A Canadian child is killed during rescue; most hostages were foreign children.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A Canadian child was killed during a rescue operation to free children held hostage at the Siem Reap International School, in north-western Cambodia. Two hostage takers were also killed.

The incident that lasted six hours began this morning when six armed men stormed the school attended by foreign children and the children of top Cambodian army officers.

Some 29 children aged two to four were seized in class, mostly from the US, Japan, Britain, Ireland, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.

The gunmen demanded money, cars, and weapons.

Eyewitnesses quoted by France Presse said shots had been fired inside the school.

"There were two shots at first and then a whole volley. I would say, lasting maybe one or two minutes," said the expatriate eyewitness, speaking by phone.

Initial reports said police had arrested four of the six hostage-takers—two died in the shoot-out when police rushed the vehicle in which they were trying to get away.

Eyewitnesses report that many ambulances were on the scene, but that now "everything seemed under control".

• cambodia
• siem
• reap
• hostage-taking
• violence
• children
• hostages
• police