FIVE people escaped from a Sydney cafe where a gunman took an unknown number of hostages during yesterday’s morning rush hour. Two people inside the cafe earlier held up a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith that has often been used by extremists, raising fears that a terrorist incident was playing out in the heart of Australia’s biggest city.

    The first three people ran out of the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in downtown Sydney six hours into the hostage crisis, and two women sprinted from a fire exit into the arms of waiting police shortly afterward. Both women were wearing aprons with the Lindt chocolate logo, indicating they were cafe employees.

    The Chinese Embassy said it does not know yet whether there were Chinese citizens among the hostages.

    The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that the gunman was known to police, but it has been told not to reveal his name.

    Police refused to say how many hostages were inside the cafe, what they believed the gunman’s motives might be, whether he had made any demands, whether anyone was hurt, or whether the siege was related to terrorism.

    The drama began at around 9:45 a.m. in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city’s financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. Many of those inside the cafe would have been taken hostage as they stopped in for their morning coffees.

    Hundreds of police blanketed the city, streets were closed and offices evacuated. Workers in the cordoned-off area were asked to stay home today, indicating police believed the hostage drama could stretch into the next day.(SD-Agencies)