Across China: Jilin

Hostage taker shot dead

Police shot dead a man who took a masseuse hostage yesterday. Police were trying to negotiate with the hostage taker to release the young woman he had been holding for about 16 hours. Qiao Mingfei, 32, kidnapped a 23-year-old masseuse with a knife at about 12:40 am when the massage house was about to close, according to the public security bureau of Changchun, the provincial capital. Several hundred policemen had cordoned off the area and were trying to persuade Qiao to set the woman free.

The motive of the hostage taker was not immediately known.