35 Hostages Are Released Unhurt at Norway School

A man charged with rape and upset over losing custody of his children took 25 students and 10 adults hostage at a preschool Monday, holding some for 11 hours until he was allowed a televised interview with psychologists, police said.

“I’m sitting here knowing that my first teenager just turned 13 in May, and I’m not even allowed to call,” the man said in the live broadcast on the TV-2 network before surrendering to police. “Many would kill themselves because they couldn’t handle it.”

The man held the 35 hostages for hours in a wooden schoolhouse in Hjelmeland, about 165 miles west of the capital, Oslo, before releasing all but five children and two staff members, police said.

The last seven hostages appeared to be in good condition after the man surrendered. There were no reports of injury among any of the 35 hostages.

Police confirmed that the hostage-taker was armed, but refused to release his name or say what kind of weapon he had.

The man’s lawyer, Odd Forsell, said his client had been granted primary custody of his sons, then lost it when his ex-wife filed rape charges against him in a case that goes to court this month.

“He claims the accusation is not true,” Forsell said.

Forsell said one of the women held hostage was a witness in the case. The man told him he never intended to hurt anyone and just wanted to call attention to his situation, Forsell said.