Hostage-taker killed during rescue operation in Moscow region - 15 March, 2005

A patient of the Moscow region hospital for mentally unbalanced people took one woman hostage

Pravda.Ru reported earlier about an incident in the mental hospital No5 located in the village of Troitskoe, some 50 km south of Moscow, where a female worker of the hospital's cafeteria was taken hostage by one of the inmates at 8:30 pm on March 9th, 2005.

The inmate was undergoing a course of compulsory treatment in accordance with a court ruling. A source in the Interior Ministry said that the inmate was not stranger to the hostage-taking. He was previously convicted for taking a hostage and injuring a policeman during the rescue operation. Her was put into the institution for that crime.

The talks between the police and the criminal lasted all night but failed to produce any results. On March 10th the police units stormed the hospital. The criminal was killed and the hostage was freed during the operation. Her condition is described as serious.

The source in the police said that a special operation took 10 minutes to complete. The police shot the criminal who was reported to be threatening the hostage with a knife. A spokesperson for the Moscow regional police directorate confirmed the killing of 44-year-old hostage-taker by the police during the rescue operation.