A 16-hour long hostage siege at a cafe in Sydney, Australia, ended earlier today with a dramatic, middle-of-the-night raid.Three people are confirmed dead, including the gunman.Australian police have been careful not to ascribe motives to the hostage-taker.But as we'll hear in a few minutes, the case comes as the country's been dealing with several security threats.Stuart Cohen begins our coverage from Sydney.The sound of stun grenades and gunfire echoed through the empty streets of Sydney's downtown in the middle of the night,as police stormed the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in the city's Martin Place.Less than a minute earlier, several hostages were seen fleeing from the building.New South Wales police commissioner, Andrew Scipione...I understand that there was a number of gunshots that were heard,which caused officers to move straight to what we call an EA ― an emergency action plan.They made the call because they believed that at that time, if they didn't enter, there would have been many more lives lost.The siege started on a busy Monday morning in Sydney's financial district.The gunman walked into the popular cafe during the morning rush hour,pulling out a gun and taking 17 people hostage.The drama unfolded right across the street from one of the country's TV networks.And images of hostages standing, hands raised, in front of the windows, were quickly beamed around the world.Some of them were forced to hold up a black banner with Arabic writing,leading many to believe this was a terrorist act, including Australia's prime minister, Tony Abbott.This is a very disturbing incident.It is profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation.
今天早些时候，澳大利亚悉尼一家咖啡厅发生人质劫持事件，警方在半夜发动了突袭，结束了长达16个小时的对峙。目前确认包括枪手在内的三人死亡。澳大利亚警方一直很谨慎，并未透露劫匪的动机。据之后的报道，这起案件发生时澳大利亚正在处理数起安全威胁。斯图尔特・科恩将从悉尼为我们带来报道。半夜时分，第二颗震爆弹和交火的声音响彻空旷的悉尼街头，警方冲进了马丁广场的瑞士莲咖啡厅。不到一分钟以前，数名人质从大楼里逃出。新南威尔士州的警察局局长安德鲁・斯奇皮奥内表示。我们听到了几声枪响，所以警方决定立即采取紧急行动计划。他们做出这一决定的原因是，他们认为如果当时他们不立即冲进咖啡厅，那会出现更多的伤亡。劫持事件于繁忙的周一早上发生在悉尼的金融区。枪手在早高峰期间走进一家人气咖啡店，拿出枪劫持了17名人质。该咖啡店对面的电视台拍摄到了这起悲剧。电视图像拍到人质高举双手站在窗户前面，这一情况迅速传播到了世界各地。一些人质被迫举着写有阿拉伯语的黑色旗帜，这使包括澳大利亚总理托尼・阿博特在内的许多人认为这是一次恐怖主义行动。这起事件令人非常不安。无辜者被怀有政治动机的持枪者劫持做人质，这是极其令人震惊的。
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