Post date: Apr 27, 2012 2:34:53 PM
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 27, 2012) (BBC/ITN HELICOPTER) - Police sent a hostage negotiator to an office block in central London and evacuated the area around the building after a man threw computer equipment from a fifth floor window on Friday (April 27).
A man takes four people hostage in an office block in central London say witnesses. Police evacuate the building and the surrounding area.
Witnesses said the man had taken around four people hostage and had threatened to blow up gas canisters he was carrying.
Aerial pictures showed several police cars and vans, ambulances and fire engines on scene. Transport for London said the nearby underground station at Goodge Street was closed.
Police had no comment on those reports.
Police said they had put a 100-metre cordon around the building in Tottenham Court Road, a busy area of offices and shops near the British Museum and the University of London.