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Terrorist Hijacks Bus in Germany.
HANOVER (Reuters) - An armed man hijacked a bus with about 15 people on board in the northern German city of Bremen on Friday, triggering a police pursuit along a motorway.
Police said they had made contact with the man, aged about 20 and of foreign appearance, but did not know his motives. He boarded the bus on Friday morning at around 9:40 a.m. (3:40 a.m. EDT) and threatened the driver with a gun.
The hijacker let three passengers go and the remaining 15 were sitting in the rear seats of the bus, N24 television reported. The man was sitting behind the driver with a gun pointed at him, N24 said.
The bus, traveling at about 30 miles per hour, was headed south after passing Hanover on the A7 motorway, about 90 miles from Bremen.
The hijacking comes two weeks after a bank robber hijacked a bus in Berlin. Police stormed that bus after a four-hour stand-off, shooting and injuring the assailant while rescuing his two hostages unharmed.
Television pictures on Friday showed a red and white bus followed at a distance by a convoy of marked and unmarked police vehicles and ambulances. The driver was clearly visible but the gunman could not be seen.
The police spokesman said the hijacker was of "southern appearance" -- a loose description German police often use for people from southern Mediterranean, Arab or Asian countries.
"We have no information on his motive and no indication that he has used any violence," the spokesman said. A television news reporter in the convoy said police appeared to be trying to create a traffic jam to force the bus to stop.
The bus hijacked on Friday belongs to the Verkehrsbetriebe Bremen-Niedersachsen (VBN) public transport company.
Police said they had made contact with the man, aged about 20 and of foreign appearance, but did not know his motives. He boarded the bus on Friday morning at around 9:40 a.m. (3:40 a.m. EDT) and threatened the driver with a gun.
The hijacker let three passengers go and the remaining 15 were sitting in the rear seats of the bus, N24 television reported. The man was sitting behind the driver with a gun pointed at him, N24 said.
The bus, traveling at about 30 miles per hour, was headed south after passing Hanover on the A7 motorway, about 90 miles from Bremen.
The hijacking comes two weeks after a bank robber hijacked a bus in Berlin. Police stormed that bus after a four-hour stand-off, shooting and injuring the assailant while rescuing his two hostages unharmed.
Television pictures on Friday showed a red and white bus followed at a distance by a convoy of marked and unmarked police vehicles and ambulances. The driver was clearly visible but the gunman could not be seen.
The police spokesman said the hijacker was of "southern appearance" -- a loose description German police often use for people from southern Mediterranean, Arab or Asian countries.
"We have no information on his motive and no indication that he has used any violence," the spokesman said. A television news reporter in the convoy said police appeared to be trying to create a traffic jam to force the bus to stop.
The bus hijacked on Friday belongs to the Verkehrsbetriebe Bremen-Niedersachsen (VBN) public transport company.
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