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- Dubai 05:41 06:59 12:24 15:20 17:42 19:01
Armed police officers on the scene where a man threaten to blow himself up in an office building on Tottenham Court Road on April 27, 2012 in London, England. The busy shopping street in central London has been evacuated after an unidentified 49-year-old man arrived in the offices of Advantage HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) "strapped up with gasoline cylinders, and threatened to blow up the office". According to reports the man, who began to throw computers and other office equipment from the office window, failed a HGV training course and demanded his money back. The siege has recently ended following the arrest of the man. (GETTY)
Police arrested a man who witnesses said had threatened to blow himself up in an office building in central London, forcing a busy shopping street to be sealed off in a three-hour standoff on Friday.
"We have arrested a man at Tottenham Court Road. A search of the building is under way," the Metropolitan Police said.
Witnesses had reported the man had taken four men hostage, but police said they were "not aware of any hostages at this stage" although officers were searching the building.
Police vehicles had cordoned off a 150-metre (500-feet) stretch of the road after the man entered a building reportedly with gas canisters strapped to his body and started throwing computer screens from a window on the fifth floor.
A police negotiator was at the scene while armed officers patrolled.
The incident, which started at 1100 GMT, was not terrorism-related, police said.
The Huffington Post website, whose offices are nearby, reported that the man had stormed into the offices of a company which offers courses on driving trucks.
The website carried a video interview with an employee of the company, Abby Baafi, 27, who said the man had targeted her company's offices.
"He just turned up, strapped up in... gasoline cylinders. Basically he threatened to blow up the offices. Says he doesn't care about his life, doesn't care about anything," she said in the video.
"He was specifically looking for me but I said 'My name's not Abby' and he let me go."
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