Malaysia police save singing child hostages

Malaysian police stormed a kindergarten today and shot a man carrying a machete who held 30 children and four teachers hostage for six hours in a tense stand-off.

The hostages were unharmed.

The unidentified man was in hospital in critical condition after suffering a single bulletwound to the head, said senior police officer in southern Johor state.

“All the 30 children, aged between three and five years, and their four teachers are safe,” he said.

Another officer said the man was wielding a machete and a hammer when he barged into the kindergarten in a residential area in Johor early in the morning, sparking a stand-off with police.

The man, believed to be mental problems, forced the hostages to go upstairs in the two-storey building. During negotiations with police, the man threatened to kill the children unless he was given a gun.

Police special forces later managed to enter the ground floor and were heading up the stairs when the man attacked them with his weapons and a fire extinguisher.

Police had no choice but to shoot the man, he said, adding that they were investigating his identity.

Reports say the children were heard singing in what was believed to be an attempt to calm the man.