This story has been updated with new developments. Dutch police detained a man Saturday after he left a nightclub where four people had been held hostage for hours, bringing a peaceful end to a tense standoff in Ede, a town around 50 miles southeast of Amsterdam. "We are exceptionally happy that it ended this way. That the victims came out safely and that we were able to arrest this suspect without using violence," said Marthyne Kunst, head of the regional public prosecutor's office. Police said the hostage-taker was armed with knives, and a backpack he carried was being examined to establish if it contained explosives, the AP reports. Kunst told reporters that the man was known to law enforcement authorities and had previously been convicted of threatening behavior.
Earlier, three young hostages walked out of the club with their hands above their heads. A fourth person was released shortly before the suspect was arrested. The hostages were all workers at the club. Heavily armed police had cordoned off part of the town on Saturday, saying that multiple people were being held hostage in a building there. Police said in a message on X that "at the moment there is no indication of a terrorist motive." The hostages were being held in Cafe Petticoat, a popular bar and nightclub, according to an AP videographer at the scene. Officers evacuated 150 homes near a central square in the rural market town, saying there was a person in the area "who could be a danger to themself or others."
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