Bank robber holds hostages for 12 hours in Alicante

Security forces in Alicante were on red alert yesterday as a young man threatened to blow up a branch of the Banco Popular in a residential area of the city. The bank seige lasted for over 12 hours. The man entered the bank at 9.30 a.m. and held hostage bank employees and clients for twelve hours, while the police evacuated 176 families from flats around the bank and cordened off the area. The man's father travelled down from Madrid and tried to pursuade his son to free the hostages and to surrender to police, but the man continued with his threats to set off a hand grenade if police did not give him a motorbike and a gram of heroin. Finally he was given a motorbike and tried to escape, but a police car crashed into the bike and overpowered him. He was taken to hospital last night and is reported to be in a serious condition. Tele Cinco offer a video of some of the moments of the seige here . If you want to see the moment when a police car crashes into the bank robber when he tries to escape on the motorbike in Alicante, click on the video link at the bottom of the Tele Cinco page.