Gunmen toyed with grenades the whole time —hostage

Press, 7 May 1980, Page 8

Gunmen toyed with grenades the whole time —hostage

NZPA London Chris Cramer, a 8.8. C. TV man who was taken hostage at the beginning of the Iranian Embassy holdup but released on the second day, told yesterday how the gunmen were heavily armed with handgrenades. “One of them was playing with it (a grenade) the whole time,” he said on 8.8. C. TV news. “He had his finger through the pin all the time. They must have had a couple of hand - grenades in each pocket.” ■ Mr Cramer, a 8.8. C. TV 4 news organiser, was re- li leased by the terrorists i> after 24 hours in the em- ji bassy. He was suffering •' Trom a stomach ailment. !j He. and his colleague, Sim ’j Harris, were in the em- .( bassy seeking visas to go - to Teheran when the ter- 1 ■ rorists burst in. “There was a big com- t motion at the front door. I I turned round. The police-.( man was grappling with a ! gunman,” he said. ’ “I could see the gun. I < ran into the waiting room j and tried to get out of the i I window. It would not i ‘ budge. I could hear shots 11 — there were quite a few [ I of them.” • i i Mr Cramer said he J told other people around I him it would be best to put I their hands up. Then a gunman appeared and “ran us up stairs with our hands in ; the air.” I I He added: “There was a ’ big commotion going on. I i They seemed very concer- i I ned where the ambassador • j was. | i “They kept shouting, 11 “where’s the ambassador?’ (; I gather he tried to es- i • cape by jumping out of the 1 1 window. But he fell into a )"[ courtyard and they, [; dragged him back in.” [! Mr Cramer said the [i terrorists allowed him to j - use the telephone to con* i i tact-Scotland Yard. JI “I tried to tell them we j ] were we were un- j j harmed and the gunmen had not harmed us so far, ! and I tried to give the .■ numbers of people there,” hejsaid. “But . the guy with the 7, machine-gun snatched the ‘7 phone from me, rammed . ' the gun at my head and ran me back along the cor-T ridor.” ■, Mr Cramer said three.',?.' of the gunmen were very 7?,; calm, and tried to calm the ' hostages. ;..T One, who spoke English, T told them: .“Don’t worry. -i This is not going to take us very long. But novi tricks.” ? Mr Cramer said he was i with Constable Trevor Lock I whose face was covered in ■; blood after the struggle,,)! when the gunmen entered Tj the embassy. . ( i “I got a tissue and wiped 1 his face down. I said:. “Where’s you gun.” / K “He said: ‘They search me. It’s down here? “I said: ‘Where is it exactly, and how do I use it? “He said: ‘There’s no & safety catch on it, and if J you want to use it, justT> take it out and it fires. you can’t use it. We would only take two of them’.” ( Mr Cramer said that;?’ when the English - speak-j . ing terrorist was out of the ; ".' room, the hostages discus-'l{ sed in detail how they/ !■ could escape. He said the terrorists -? seemed concerned about] -il him. “I was carried, down- 7 j stairs and then one of theT;; gunmen stood over tr said:. ’ ‘We" ' are terribly, sorry/< Then I was ojit;” ’