Security forces in SWAT-style gear intervened, unleashing a flurry of loud bangs and flashes in the eatery in the heart of Australia's biggest city, after a number of the staff and customers managed to flee for their lives.
An AFP photographer saw one body carried out. Sky News also reported four people were wounded, three of them critically.
Royal North Shore Hospital had admitted a woman in her 40s with a gunshot wound to her leg, a spokesperson told AFP. She was in a serious but stable condition.
A bomb robot, which is used to detect and disarm explosives, was subsequently sent into the building as police declared the siege over and medics tended to hostages.
"Sydney siege is over. More details to follow," police announced on Twitter.
The hostagetaker, who earlier had unfurled an Islamic flag, was named by ABC television and other media as a 49-year-old Iranian-born "cleric" called Man Haron Monis.
They published a photo of him sporting a beard and a white turban and said he was on bail for a series of violent offences.
The preChristmas siege of the Lindt chocolate cafe began Monday morning and triggered a massive security lockdown in Sydney's financial district as hundreds of police surrounded the site.
Monis's former lawyer Manny Conditsis said the public could be assured that the siege was not the work of an organised terrorist group.
"This is a one-off random individual," he told broadcaster ABC. "It's not a concerted terrorism event or act. It's a damagedgoods individual who's done something outrageous."
The police have not confirmed if the people who ran out of the cafe were released, ABC News reporter Lucy Carter tweeted.
https://twitter.com/lucethoughts/status/544426274173632513
"We have moved to a footing that would be consistent with a terrorist event," Andrew Scipione, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales, told reporters in Sydney.
The NSW police has also requested media outlets not to release the identity of hostage taker.
https://twitter.com/lucethoughts/status/544444585213063168
Police, including heavily armed paramilitary officers, cordoned off several blocks around the cafe as negotiators tried to defuse one of the biggest security scares in Australia for decades. Snipers and a SWAT team could be seen taking up positions around the cafe and police helicopters flew overhead.
The New South Wales government on Monday set up an exclusion zone asking people who work in the Martin Place area of Sydney to work from home on Tuesday because of the hostage situation.
The Grand Mufti of Australia and the Australian National Imam's Council (ANIC) have denounced the incident in a media statement.*
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who has warned of militant plans to strike Australian targets, said there were indications the hostage situation at the cafe was politically motivated.
"This is a very disturbing incident. I can understand the concerns and anxieties of the Australian people," Abbott told reporters in Canberra, without providing any information on the siege.
Australia, a staunch ally of the United States and its escalating action against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, is on high alert for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East.
The cafe was directly opposite a commercial television studio and footage earlier showed several people inside the cafe standing with their hands pressed against the windows.
Pictures showed a black and white flag similar to those used by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria being held up by what appeared to be a staff member and another woman.
The incident forced the evacuation of nearby buildings in Sydney's central business district and sent shockwaves around a country where many people have started to turn their attention to the approaching Christmas festive season following earlier security scares.
Sydney's Channel 7 journalist Chris Reason, who has a direct line of sight of the cafe, has tweeted that the gunman seems agitated when five hostages escaped and that the cafe is completely dark.
When the 5 hostages escaped, the gunman could be seen from here getting extremely agitated, shouting at remaining hostages
— Chris Reason (@ChrisReason7) December 15, 2014
Still complete darkness at the Lindt Cafe, but you can just make out the black extremist flag being held up in the window
— Chris Reason (@ChrisReason7) December 15, 2014
The New South Wales Police has advised people to call the National Security Hotline if they have any information about the incident.
If you have any information to report re: the situation at Martin Place, please call the National Security Hotline on 1800 1234 00.
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) December 15, 2014
#IllRideWithYou
Meanwhile, Australians have offered to travel with people wearing religious attire on public transport by tweeting the hashtag #IllRideWithYou.
Anticipating backlash, Sydney residents have became concerned about the potential for intolerance or harassment towards people wearing religious attire.
The social media campaign to express solidarity with the city’s Muslims was started by Sydney resident and TV content editor Tessa Kum, who told Guardian Australia that she started the hashtag after seeing this tweet from Michael James.
https://twitter.com/MichaelJames_TV/status/544339713394368512
Evacuating by ladder
Dozens of heavily armed police surrounded the cafe in Martin Place after the siege began around 9:45am local time. The area is home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, several commercial banks and is close to the New South Wales state parliament.
"I walked up to the door and then everyone was sitting down and the door's locked which is pretty weird because it's never locked and there was one guy walking around with a hat and a beard," a man who identified himself as Bruno, a worker at the cafe, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp, referring to the suspected assailant. He said he then turned away.
Several hours into the siege, police led about two dozen people out of a building opposite the cafe and through the cordon. Others were evacuated from the building above the cafe by ladder, television pictures showed.
Earlier, Lindt Australia Chief Executive Steve Loane told Sky Business there were about 10 staff working at the cafe and "probably 30 customers" although he said that figure was an estimate.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said staff had been locked down inside the building, and were all safe and accounted for.
The nearby US consulate was also evacuated, according to an embassy spokesperson, along with the Sydney Opera House. Tourists were being let back into the world-famous venue by early afternoon.
Banks and shops close
Major banks closed their offices in the central business district and people were told to avoid the area. Shops in a four block radius were shut, leaving large parts of the CBD all but deserted by mid-afternoon.
Traders in currency markets said the hostage news may have contributed to a dip in the Australian dollar, which was already under pressure from global risk aversion as oil prices fell anew.
Ray Hadley, a popular radio jockey, said he had been contacted by a hostage and could hear the suspected gunman issuing orders in the background. Police declined to comment on Hadley's claim.
Concerns about an attack in Australia by radical Islamists have been growing for more than a year, with the security agency raising its national terrorism public alert to "high" in September.
That month, a spokesperson for the Islamic State urged supporters in Western nations, including Australia, to attack civilians or military personnel at home.
* The statement put out by the Grand Mufti of Australia and the Australian National Imam's Council denouncing the incident:
COMMENTS (31)
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@Allah_Rukha: Are you referring to the hundreds of thousands killed by the Western military or some other group?
@Sexton Blake: So concerned about 160 yet forgotten hundreds of thousands who are involved in the abhorrent and barbaric acts of beheading, burning alive and mass suicidal killings?
Great news! The gunman was not of pakistani origin! Time to celebrate!
@US CENTCOM: Dear Abdul, It is also sad that 160 innocent people have been held and tortured in Gitmo for over 10 years.
@US CENTCOM: Dear Abdul, Like you I have absolutely no knowledge of what happened in the Sydney Lindt cafe. However, rather than being a terrorist, there appears to be prima facie evidence that the hostage taker, Man Haron Monis, was a mentally disturbed person. Disturbing as the incident was, and although the Australian Prime Minister has tried to magnify the situation without any knowledge, I think the more sensible course-of-action should be to wait for the facts before making hysterical accusations.
@Fawad Gilani: "@Sunil: Please reciprocate and publish the true story about train full of Muslims being burnt in Gujerat under PM Modi"
You are clearly very confused about what happened. It is a train full of Hindu pilgtims who were burnt alive by a Muslim mob which led to a communal rit where both Hindus and Muslims were killed. There was no silence in Indian media on the issue and the issue continued to hound Modi even after an acquittal by the Supreme court. Please note 33 Hindus were among those cnvicted for the riot.
@Rex Minor: "most probably the opponent of ISIL,"
I wonder how far would you go to defend a terrorist.. For Christ's sake.. He was their mouth piece.
@X-Factor: You need to look at Lal Masjid Mullah speech where he defend ISIS. He is not from some where out there, He is your own.
@Fawad Gilani: Dear Fawad, better keep good knowledge. It's Hindus who got burned in the train. Afterwards only riots started. U people easily gets driven by the extremism without studying the facts.
tA very confusing situation; it would seem that the perpatrator was the Iranian born Shia cleric of unstable emotional characteristics, most probably the opponent of ISIL, was known to the police for writing unfriendly letters to the families of soldiers serving in the middle east.
Rex Minor
Coward Terrorists will always target innocent civilians in public places. That is their hallmark! It is sad that 20 innocent people are held hostage by an ISIL terrorist in the heart of Sidney. What was the crime of these people? Having breakfast in the middle of the morning? The terrorists should know that they can gain a bit of attention through these cowardly acts but they should rest assured that that they cannot get away by these tactics. People all over the world have become aware of the real agenda of ISIL and has totally rejected it. Some will claim that the few youngsters are still trying to join them and that is because of their sleek recruitment campaign through social media by deceptive messaging. This is the time to stand up against all form of terrorism and neutralize them once and for all.
Abdul Quddus DET - U.S. Central Command
@X-Factor: the very fact that he gives fatwas should be reason enough to keep him away forever,
I met some Lebanese Muslims in Australia and my advice to not to discuss Middle East politics with them. Middle East politics is very complicated and they get easily offended and aggressive.
The non-Muslim world is waiting with bated breath to see when the 99.99% of peaceful Muslims take on the 0.01% of the violent Muslims. What is the tipping point when the 99.99% say - "enough is enough."?
The dispicable act of a lunatic who is holding civilian hostages simply to scare the people of Australia. The new south wales police has the patience and the ability to handle this obviously deranged loner.. Sydney is a beautiful city full of wonderful people and it certainly did not deserve this crisis at this time of the year.
Rex Minor
Down with ISIS ,, Disown them All Muslims stand against them , time to get rid of such terrorist March against them We are becoming Isolated in the world Think again think ,
soon the FO spokeswoman will be out with her lies.....
@X-Factor: Don't read too much into that. They have their own skins to save.
Of course, religion is not to blame here.
@Fawad Gilani:
You need some serious medical help.
@Adam: Calm down Mr. peaceful. 99.9% of the muslims are against such barbaric acts and condemn them. Look at the Fatwa by grand mufti of Australia.
"Display a flag with what appears like Arabic text"
Really? I'm quite certain the text is clear.
These perverts will only make life difficult for the majority Muslim community.Unless the community helps authorities in catching such people before they become a threat to the country where they have migrated to.
Down with ISIS.
@Sunil: Please reciprocate and publish the true story about train full of Muslims being burnt in Gujerat under PM Modi
The Chinese are showing the world the way to handle these people. The rest of the world had better learn from them fast.
Let's see if this attack also has a Pakistani connection.
Looks like the peaceful followers of the Religion of Peace have gone into a huddle to contemplate the best way to respond to the crisis affecting the IMAGE of the peaceful religion.
Finally a Pakistani newspaper is publishing this story. You will never publish this comment. I question why all Pakistani newspapers have been so quite.