The headquarters of Dutch national broadcaster Nos were evacuated on Thursday evening after an armed man forced his way into the editorial department, demanding access to airtime.

The man was overpowered shortly afterwards, but broadcasts were disrupted and the 20.00 news was delayed. The building was still closed to staff at 22.00.

Staff fled the building which is now being searched by police. A number of helicopters are also circulating above the building, the Nos news service says.

One eyewitness said the man had a pistol with a silencer attached and threatened a security guard who accompanied him to the editorial department.

Demands

The man had a list of demands and wanted 10 minutes of airtime, Nos says. Footage  broadcast after the incident shows the man, in his 20s, in a suit pacing in front of the camera and talking to a Nos employee.

‘There are major world affairs which we want to take public,’ he is heard to say. ‘We have been hired in by the security services. There we have heard things which call society into question.’

At a certain point the man noticed the police who shouted at him to drop his weapon. The man did this almost immediately. He then lay on the ground, as instructed, and was handcuffed.

RTL news showed pictures of the letter the intruder had with him. In it he claims 98 hackers are poised to launch a cyber attack and that eight bombs containing radioactive material have been placed around the country.

More to follow