1st LD: Armed man barricades himself in Belgrade building, threatening to blow it up

BELGRADE, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- An armed man barricaded himself in an apartment building in the Serbian capital of Belgrade and threatened to blow the building up on Saturday morning, local media reported.

Heavy police forces and snipers, along with negotiators, are now on the scene in Rakovica, an urban municipality of Belgrade, and the traffic is being redirected to other streets.

Serbia's public broadcaster RTS said the situation is a "hostage crisis", saying that people are locked in the building with the armed kidnapper.

Police have not made an official announcement on the crisis yet, but N1 television quoted unofficial sources as saying that the man has a bulletproof vest, a pistol and an automatic rifle, and that a team of psychologists is trying to communicate with him.

It is yet known whether someone else is with the man in the apartment or not. Enditem