Hostage crisis

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Hostage crisis refers to a terrorist or a criminal, surrounded by people, tries to hold off the authorities by force, it is considered a "barricaded suspect" situation. When a person/s holds others against their will, but keeps them hidden, it is simple kidnapping. A hostage crisis develops when the kidnapper barricades himself along with his prisoners, threatening to kill them if they are provoked or attacked.

Typically, the hostage-taker issues demands to the forces keeping him surrounded. In a planned hostage crisis, there is often a list of political or religious demands, often including the release of imprisoned friends or allies. In cases where the hostage situation was improvised as a desperate attempt to avoid capture, the demands usually revolve around exchanging the lives of the hostages for transport to safety.

For a list of hostage crisis events, see the list of hostage crises.

Journalists often prefer to use the term "siege" to describe these incidents. However, events like the Waco Siege are not necessarily hostage crises, because third parties are not being held or threatened.

Hostage crisis

See also