A hostage dead, one unconscious after 11-hour standoff near Tokyo

TOKYO, Jan 28 -- One hostage died and another one remained unconscious in the hospital after the Japanese police arrested a 66-year-old man in a standoff near Tokyo on Friday morning, reported Xinhua.

The man attacked three visiting medical workers and shot one of them dead in an 11-hour standoff that started at around 9:00 p.m. local time on Thursday evening until the small hours of Friday morning.

A 44-year-old male doctor, thought to be the assailant's primary physician, was found by police with no vital signs and later died at the hospital.

The medical workers arrived at the man's home in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, to offer their support and condolences following a death in the man's family.

According to local reports, the assailant, named Hiroshi Watanabe, was armed with what has been described as a hunting gun.

One of the medical workers, a 41-year-old physiotherapist who was shot in the abdomen by Watanabe, remains unconscious, local reports said.

Watanabe hospitalised another medical worker by spraying him with tear gas, police said.

Around 110 local residents were evacuated, and elementary and junior high schools in the area will remain closed on Friday.

-- BERNAMA