Armed man takes schoolkids hostage in Germany

A man armed with a knife took several schoolchildren hostage in the north-west German town of Ennepetal today, police said.

The man forced between four and seven children aged 10 and 11 from a school bus and was holding them in a building, said police spokeswoman Sandra Zwick.

Police surrounded the house on the edge of the town, which is 40 miles north west of Cologne. The man's motives were not immediately known, police said.