UPDATED: Bank of Georgia branch in Zugdidi taken hostage by robbers
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Updated: 18:50
The attackers have demanded half a million dollars, an unarmed negotiator and security guarantees.
Moreover, they have given police a deadline of two hours for special forces to be removed from the perimeter, says Mtavari Arkhi.
The attackers say there are 19 hostages in the building.
TV channel Formula published information that one of the hostages said there are three attackers in total.
One of the released employees, Ana Shonia, who made her way outside to freedom with the help of a bank customer, says some people were released by the attacker.
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs received a report about the case at 14:21.
Earlier: 15:28
A Bank of Georgia branch in the west Georgian city of Zugdidi has been taken hostage by robbers.
Witnesses have reported gunshots. So far, no injuries have been reported.
Special forces units are outside the building.
One of the employees who was able to make their way out of the building said one individual shot several times and asked employees to get down on their knees.
Several individuals have been spotted on the roof of the building
The bank is located on On Zviad Gamsakhurdia Avenue in Zugdidi, and the area has been cordoned off.
Additional details will follow as developments unfold.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has addressed journalists covering the Bank of Georgia branch hostage crisis in Zugdidi where an armed attacker took 19 people hostage earlier today. “I call on media outlets to take the appeal of the law enforcers into consideration and provide the public with information without hindering the operation of police units”, Zurabishvili said.
The de facto authorities of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region say the man who held up a Bank of Georgia branch in Zugdidi yesterday will not be allowed into the region. Sputnik cites the de facto authorities as saying that the attacker has not been mentioned near the occupied region so far. The attacker, who demanded half a million USD, released a Georgian regional police officer and the last three hostages in the forest of Kirtskhi village in Chkhotortsu municipality, near the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region.
An armored cash collection vehicle has been attacked and robbed in Georgia’s Black sea town of Kobuleti today. 1TV.ge reports that the robber stole 50,000 GEL in cash.
Georgian Designer Zviad Tsikolia’s watch shop was robbed on Shardeni street in Tbilisi earlier today.
Police confirm that all nine hostages in central Tbilisi, employees of microcredit company MBC, have been freed after negotiations with the attacker. The attacker, who announced three demands, has been arrested.
Attacker of microfinance organisation Levan Zurabashvil, who took hostages and demanded changes to the country’s legislation concerning loan issuance and gambling, has been denied bail.
A Bank of Georgia branch in Digomi, Tbilisi was robbed earlier today.
An armed man has attacked a Bank of Georgia branch and has taken hostages near Avlabari Metro Station in Tbilisi.
Police officers in Tbilisi have arrested an individual following an armed robbery of a Bank of Georgia branch on Pekini Avenue in the central Saburtalo district on Thursday.