Woman and child saved from knife-wielding hostage taker - Bangkok Post

Police from the Phaya Thai station negotiate with a man to secure the safe release of a woman and child, who were taken hostage beneath the Yommarat intersection flyover in Bangkok on Saturday. (Photo: Poh Teck Tung Foundation) A woman and child were rescued after being taken hostage by a man, reportedly the child’s father, who threatened them with a knife near a flyover on Phetchaburi Road in Bangkok on Saturday morning.

Police had spent about an hour negotiating with the man to secure the safe release of the hostages while carefully controlling the situation to prevent injuries.

The Poh Teck Tung Foundation said its radio centre received an emergency report at 10.20am that a man was acting violently and holding a knife to a boy’s neck beneath the Yommarat intersection flyover.

Initial reports suggested the boy was the man’s son, although the relationship between the man and the two hostages, as well as the motive for the incident, had not been confirmed.

Authorities urged the public to avoid the area and refrain from sounding emergency sirens near the scene to prevent further alarm and disruption to the operation.

The latest reports said both the child and the woman were safe, while officers were clearing traffic in the area.