Police vehicles block off a street outside the pre-trial detention centre-1, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. The hostages were taken by six to seven defendants, which were armed with fire axes and rubber truncheons. They demanded transportation and the possibility to leave the detention centre. In the course of a special operation to free hostages, the criminals were eliminated, and the hostages were released and not harmed, the penitentiary service said in a statement.