Armed man holds 20 people hostage in Ukraine

Kiev, July 21 (IANS) An armed man held 20 people hostage inside a bus in Ukraine's Lutsk city on Tuesday, according to police.The man allegedly has some explosives, and shots were heard at scene, Xinhua news agency quoted the police as saying. The area off the centre of the city, located 250 miles west of capital Kiev, has been cordoned off, while the demands of the assailant were not immediately known.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed the reports about gunshots and stressed that measures were being taken to resolve the situation without casualties, the Independent newspaper said in a report.In a statement on Facebook, he said: "Gunshots have been heard, the bus is damaged."Anton Heraschenko, the deputy Interior Minister, said the hijacker called the police himself to inform them about the situation.In response to the incident, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is on his way to Lutsk.
--IANS ksk/