Bank siege over a gram of cocaine
A man claiming to have a hand grenade and demanding cocaine took 10 people hostage in a Spanish bank today.
Police were negotiating with the man, whose father went to the bank to try to persuade him to surrender.
As the hostage crisis began in the Costa Blanca resort of Alicante, the man said he had a grenade and threatened to detonate it unless he was provided with a gram of cocaine.
But as the day wore on he released hostages one by one and by early evening just two of 10 originally taken captive remained in the bank, said Mariano Sevillano, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry office.
The hostage crisis began about 8.30am CET (7.30am Irish time) in a branch of Banco Popular.
Police have also said the man had a pistol in addition to the grenade.
Police evacuated the seven-storey building that houses the bank and cordoned off the area.
