Hostage TV: The Live Seige

[sair5412]

Channel 4 Tuesday 30th Jan at 11pm. Does anybody know if it will be repeated or even better if I can watch it online? Or get any info about the story featured? I can't seem to find anything on google!!

It was about a man in Athens in September 1998 who held a family hostage in their apartment and had a hand grenade. He telephoned the main news channel in Greece and was live on air speaking with the presenter for about 4 hours. The presenter managed to get him to release 2 hostages while the police did nothing. Eventually the police told the news channel to stop talking with the man, yet the phone was left off the hook so everything was still being transmitted on tv. The chief of police stormed in to the apartment, thinking the grenade was fake. Basically, the police totally messed up the calmer situation this poor news reader had managed to keep under control and the guy and one hostage ended up dead as the grenade went off live on the news channel.

[dogfish]

If you google "Sorin Matei hostages Greece" you'll get some stuff to start you off.