1 hostage dead after 11-hr standoff near Tokyo (Ld)

Tokyo, Jan 28 (IANS) One hostage died and another remained unconscious in a hospital after the Japanese police arrested a 66-year-old man following an 11 hour-long standoff near Tokyo on Friday.The man attacked three visiting medical workers and shot one of them dead in the standoff that started at around 9 p.m. on Thursday night until early Friday morning, reports Xinhua news agency.A 44-year-old male doctor, thought to be the assailant's primary physician, was found by police with no vital signs and later died at the hospital.The medical workers had arrived at the man's home in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, to offer their support and condolences following a death in his family.According to local reports, the assailant, named Hiroshi Watanabe, was armed with what has been described as a hunting gun.One of the medical workers, a 41-year-old physiotherapist who was shot in the abdomen by Watanabe, remains unconscious, local reports said.Watanabe injured another medical worker by spraying him with tear gas, police said.Around 110 local residents were evacuated, and elementary and junior high schools in the area will remain closed on Friday.
--IANS ksk/

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