Cops rush to defuse 'collar explosive' wrapped around 18-yr-old victim as parents are held to ransom in Sydney
Cops rush to defuse 'collar explosive' wrapped around 18-yr-old victim as parents are held to ransom in Sydney
Bomb squad officers have entered a house in a wealthy suburb of Sydney where a terrified teenage girl is reported to have had an explosive device strapped to her body by a balaclava-clad intruder.
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| Officers try to work out how they can diffuse the explosive device, which is strapped to the girl and has a note attached to it |
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Police said a 'delicate operation' was taking place in a house in the suburb of Mosman.
A senior police officer described the device as an unusual 'collar bomb', which has never been seen before in Australia, but an exact description has yet to be officially given.
Reports suggested the 18-year-old girl has been at the property in Mosman when an intruder broke in and fitted her with the device against her will. Once the intruder left the property she rang police for help.
Police have refused to confirm reports that she was also left with a ransom note.
However, she is understood to be the daughter of a wealthy Sydney businessman and Australian media have suggested that the extraordinary incident might be part of an extortion attempt.
Police, bomb squads and negotiators were on the scene, attempting to determine if the bomb was live or could be controlled remotely.
Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Murdoch told the assembled media that police were trying to "work out what it is and more importantly what it isn't."
More than seven hours after police arrived at the house, Murdoch said the girl was "doing pretty well" and remained calm.
Murdoch added, "There's a device in the house in the vicinity of the young woman. That device is still being examined as we speak.
We are treating the device as live until we know otherwise. We need to play our cards pretty close to our chest at this point.
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The young lady is fine and doing her best to assist the police to find out exactly what's gone on."
He said police were working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation but would not do anything to put lives in danger.
He also issued an appeal to locals to come forward if they saw anything strange during the afternoon.
The young woman's parents were with police outside the house and had received updated on the situation.
Surrounding homes were evacuated, with several streets closed to traffic, while medical and fire crews remain on standby. Several stunned neighbours gathered on streets near the police cordon.
One Mosman resident, who did not give his name, said the events had shocked the community. "This is usually a very serene, peaceful area, right next to the harbour" he said.
"I have never heard of anything like this happening before, it's incredibly sad."
