3 Men Arrested Following Reports Of Armed Siege In Ghent, Belgium

Police responded after four gun-wielding men entered an apartment building in the early hours of Monday morning. Three people have been arrested.

Updated — Dec. 15, 9:28 a.m. ET

Police stormed an apartment building in Ghent, Belgium, and detained three men amid reports of a hostage-taking, the BBC reported.

Four armed men had entered the building in the Dampoort area early on Monday morning, and police moved in on the address in the early part of the afternoon, the BBC said.

Journalists at the scene had earlier said that three people have given themselves up without violence, according to the BBC. It is unclear whether these three were suspects, or whether the siege had finished at that point.

Authorities said the incident was not linked to terrorism, and that no weapons had been found.

A spokeswoman for the state prosecution service said: "For the time being we have no indication that there is a link to terrorism."

A federal police spokeswoman said: "There appears to be nothing political. And it does not seem to be going that way," AP reported.

Police also said there was no link to the ongoing siege in Sydney, Australia. Police spokeswoman Annemie Serlippens said: "This isn't the same sort of incident as the events in Sydney."

A large-scale police operation with a wide corden had been set up to keep bystanders away from the scene.

TV in Belgium have said that another hostage-taking incident took place in Ghent in October, which was related to an unpaid debt, the BBC reported.

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