Swiss train hostage gives account of fatal drama 

Police stormed the train to end the four-hour hostage ordeal. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / LAURENT GILLIERON

A person taken hostage by an asylum seeker on a Swiss train has spoken of the traumatic events that led up to the assailant being shot dead by police last week.

The 32-year Iranian asylum seeker, armed with an axe a knife and a hammer, held 13 people hostage on the regional train on February 8. The drama ended when police stormed the train and shot dead the hostage taker. 

“It took me a long time to realise how precarious the situation was,” Brad Smith, who was one of those held hostage, told Swiss public broadcasters SRF and RTS. “Then he put the axe blade to my neck.” 

The four-hour long incident seemed longer because the train was in the dark with the electricity cut, said Smith. When the incident reached a crescendo, “suddenly everyone realised the horror. We realised that he might kill us all that night.” 

Police eventually stormed the train after setting off explosives designed to distract the hostage taker. 

“The noise, shattering glass, smoke, the emergency services with weapons – it was like being in the cinema. I didn’t move – I felt liberated,” said Smith. 

“Strangely, as soon as I got out of the train, everything became unreal for me. I had so anchored my fear and my emotions in this train that outside I no longer realised anything. I didn’t even know who I was with. I continued to watch over my companions taken hostage, I felt invested with a mission of protection towards them. My mind remained on the train.” 

Smith still feels trauma from the event. Taking another train since the incident on the same route did not help. 

“I hyperventilated, banged on the doors to get out and I even forced the train to stop because I had to get out,” he said.  

The incident has raised questions in Switzerland about the effectiveness of security measures in its asylum system. 

Translated from German and French by DeepL/mga

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