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Guatemala City: A man believed to be armed with an explosive device took dozens of people hostage inside a building in Guatemala City on Monday, police said.
The hostage-taker shot and wounded a security guard in the building where he held a group of around 40 employees working the late shift at a call center on the fifth floor, the Emisoras Unidas radio station said. He threatened to set off a bomb he claimed he was carrying, the station said.
According to a police officer the 29-year-old assailant had a "sentimental" problem related to his ex-wife.
"It's very worrying particularly for my mother who is terrified," said Marco Ayala, whose brother Luis was being held hostage.
Fire trucks and ambulances waited outside a police cordon thrown up around the building as dozens of residents from nearby looked on.
Police delivered boxes of pizzas and bottles of water to the building.
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