A man armed with a knife attacked the Russia Today (RT) office in Tel Aviv on Thursday. The channel’s staff is safe, but at least two people have been killed and one was injured, reports.
The channel’s correspondent, Paula Slier, posted pictures of the attack’s aftermath on her Twitter account.
Police are currently on the scene, and medics were seen tending to the wounded. Some reports suggest the attacker is still at large in the office building.
The RT crew are arricaded in the building. A police helicopter has been circling above the building, Slier said, adding that the building was on lockdown.
According to Slier, as soon as RT’s staff heard shouts, they ran out of the office. “The first 10-15 minutes were total chaos. It was hard to say what was happening. Then police and security services arrived. They ran up the stairs.”
The bureau chief added that approximately 700 people work in the office building.
“At first we did not know what happened to the assailant – was he apprehended or what happened. Then we found a body [of a person killed in the attack]. We were there when the ambulance arrived. They covered the body and took it away,” Slier said.
According to reports, at least two people were wounded, she added. One of the wounded is said to have passed away later.
A man with a knife, presumably a Palestinian, killed one and wounded two Israelis in the Beit Panorama shopping mall in the southern part of the city.
There was chaos as police tried to figure out whether the attacker was still in the building.