London:
Police sent a hostage negotiator to an office block in central London and evacuated the area around the building after a man threw computer equipment from a fifth floor window on Friday.
Witnesses said the man had taken around four people hostage and had threatened to blow up gas canisters he was carrying. Police had no comment on those reports.
Police said they had put a 100-metre cordon around the building in Tottenham Court Road, a busy area of offices and shops near the British Museum and the University of London.
"Police were called to reports of a man causing a disturbance who was believed to be throwing items out of a fifth floor window," a London police spokesman said. There were no immediate reports of any injuries.
One office worker said she had been inside the office block when the man arrived and threatened staff.
"He turned up, strapped up with gasoline cylinders, and threatened to blow up the office," Abby Baafi, 27, said in a video clip posted on the website of The Huffington Post, the U.S. news website that has offices in the area. Staff from the company were among those evacuated.
"He said he doesn't care about his life. He doesn't care about anything, he is going to blow up everybody."
Aerial pictures showed several police cars and vans, ambulances and fire engines on scene. Transport for London said the nearby underground station at Goodge Street was closed.
Copyright @ Thompson Reuters 2012