A man claiming to have a bomb strapped to his chest seized several hostages at a New Hampshire campaign office for Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton today before releasing two in a standoff with police.
It was not clear whether there were any hostages remaining in the campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire and police were still surrounding the building.
Witnesses at the scene said a woman, described as one of the hostages and said to be a campaign volunteer, had emerged from the building and was escorted to safety.
New Hampshire's WMUR television said a second hostage had been released but that it was unclear if more were being held.
Sen. Clinton, who was not in New Hampshire, canceled a speaking date in Virginia immediately after news of the incident broke, Democratic Party officials said.
"There is an ongoing situation in our Rochester, New Hampshire office. We are in close contact with state and local authorities and are acting at their direction," said a statement from the Clinton campaign in Washington.
A New Hampshire state police bomb squad had barricaded the scene and sealed off the area. Located 120.7 km north of Boston in Massachusetts, Rochester is home to 30,117 people and the site of one of 16 of Clinton's offices in the state, according to Clinton's campaign website.
"A young woman with a six-month or eight-month-old infant came rushing into the store just in tears, and she said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape'," witness Lettie Tzizik told WMUR TV.
Sen. Clinton and Barack Obama are the Democratic front-runners in the race for the White House in 2008. New Hampshire holds the country's first presidential primary election in January and because of this is a major focus of attention.
Anthony Ejarque, 42, owner of Slims Texmex Saloon in the street where Sen. Clinton's campaign office is located in Rochester said the police had evacuated 30 to 40 customers and workers from his restaurant.
"They came right in and asked everyone to get up and leave and evacuate the kitchen and everybody," Mr Ejarque said in a telephone interview." There are SWAT teams or whatever they call them now on the street."
Ejarque said it was "very quiet on the street, you really can't see anything, but there apparently is a guy with a bomb in the Hillary building, which is right across the street for us. We managed to sneak back into the building."