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30. Hanoi hostage crisis -

The first hostage crisis to appear on the list occurred on April 15, 2017, in a rural Vietnamese commune. Villagers captured 38 police officers and held them hostage for 10 days due to a previous land dispute that saw the unlawful arrest of four villagers.

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29. Huntsville prison siege -

In 1974, an 11-day prison uprising took place at Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. The standoff has been noted as one of the longest hostage crises in US history, and it involved three inmates holding 11 workers and four prisoners hostage using pistols that had been smuggled into the compound.

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28. Dutch train hostage crisis -

While traveling through the countryside in the northern part of the Netherlands, seven men commandeered a train on December 2, 1975. The captors held about 50 passengers hostage over 12 days, which was done at the same time as another hostage crisis unfolded at the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam. By the end, three hostages had been killed.

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27. Bain murder-kidnappings -

On April 27, 2012, a woman named Jo Ann Bain was murdered in Tennessee, along with her eldest daughter. Bain’s two younger daughters were kidnapped and held captive for 13 days. The captor, Adam Christopher Mayes (pictured), was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and he ultimately committed suicide during a confrontation with police.

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26. Grand Mosque seizure -

Near the end of 1979, more than 50,000 worshipers were preparing to pray at the Grand Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia before 600 militants besieged the building. Many worshipers were able to escape, but a significant number were held captive in the mosque’s sanctuary for two weeks, during which hundreds of pilgrims and military troops were killed before the army was able to take over.

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25. Ouvéa cave hostage taking -

Over a period of 14 days in 1988, the South Pacific island of Ouvéa was home to a standoff between the island’s government and a group of approximately 30 terrorists, who had taken multiple military officers hostage. The captives were held in a series of caves before an assault team finally liberated them.

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24. Indonesian consulate hostage crisis -

While the Dutch train hostage crisis unfolded on December 2, 1975, seven armed terrorists raided the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam and took 60 hostages, including 16 children. Over the course of 15 days, the terrorists made multiple threats that the children would be killed, but thankfully, no hostages were harmed by the end.

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23. Yerevan hostage crisis -

On July 17, 2016, an armed group of anti-government protesters stormed a police station (pictured) in Yerevan, Armenia, and took nine hostages. The group called themselves the "Daredevils of Sasun," and they held a standoff for 15 days before ultimately surrendering, during which three police officers were killed.

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22. Kuwait Airways Flight 422 -

On April 5, 1988, a Boeing 747 flying from Thailand to Kuwait was hijacked. The 112 passengers and crew on board were held captive in a hostage crisis that lasted 16 days and spread over three continents. Ultimately, two hostages were killed before the captors landed the plane in Algeria and surrendered.

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21. Trans World Airlines Flight 847 -

Not long after taking off from Athens on June 14, 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked by two Lebanese men who had managed to smuggle a pistol and grenades on board. The flight’s 147 occupants were held hostage for 16 days before the captors had some of their demands met.

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20. Operation Barras -

On August 25, 2000, a group of British soldiers were captured by a militia in Sierra Leone and held hostage for 17 days. At the end, a British Army operation known as Operation Barras was initiated to free the soldiers, which proved successful and resulted in more than 25 casualties for the militia and only one casualty for the British Army.

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19. Zamboanga City crisis -

Zamboanga City in the Philippines was the site of a brutal armed conflict in September 2013. Lasting almost three weeks, more than 200 civilians were held hostage by a group of rebels, and the large-scale urban battle resulted in significant damage.

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18. Tourist kidnapping in India -

Four foreign tourists who were visiting the city of Delhi in India were kidnapped by terrorists and held hostage for 20 days in October 1994. The kidnappers threatened to behead the captives unless the Indian government freed 10 militants imprisoned in the state of Kashmir. The hostages were eventually rescued unhurt and the captors were detained (pictured).

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17. Dutch school hostage crisis -

In May 1977, a Dutch primary school was the scene of a hostage crisis that saw 105 children and five teachers held captive for 20 days by a group of militants. A military assault was successfully able to free the hostages without fatalities, and the captors surrendered without a fight.

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16. Dutch train hijacking -

While the primary school children were being held captive, another group of militants pulled the emergency brake on a train and took over 50 passengers hostage. The hijacking also lasted for 20 days before the train was raided by Dutch special forces, during which two hostages were sadly killed.

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15. Operation Dragon Rouge -

Operation Dragon Rouge was a daring military mission that took place in Stanleyville, Congo, in November 1964, with the aim of saving hundreds of hostages who had been held captive for almost 30 days. The operation was a success, although two dozen hostages were killed in the process. Pictured here are the hostages returning home.

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14. South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan -

In 2007, Taliban militants abducted 23 South Korean missionaries and held them captive for 42 days. Negotiations led to the release of most of the hostages, though, tragically, two were executed before the militants were paid a ransom of US$20 million in exchange for the captured missionaries.

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13. Fijian coup d'état -

One of the more extreme cases of a hostage crisis occurred in 2000 when civilians stormed the parliament in Fiji and took the government hostage for 56 days. Shockingly, the coup was a success, and the hostages were released before the government was replaced.

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12. October Crisis -

The October Crisis of 1970 was a series of political events in Quebec, Canada, that started when militants (pictured) kidnapped a British diplomat and the provincial labor minister. The two men were held hostage for 60 days, during which the labor minister, Pierre Laporte, was tragically killed.

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11. Dominican embassy siege -

For 61 days at the beginning of 1980, nearly 20 people were held hostage during a siege of the Dominican Republic embassy in Colombia. Although the captors demanded US$50 million in return for the release of the hostages, their request was denied. Eventually, the hostages were safely returned, and the leader of the militants managed to escape.

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10. Japanese embassy hostage crisis -

Hundreds of high-level diplomats and government officials at the Japanese embassy in Lima (pictured) were taken hostage by a terrorist group on December 17, 1996. They were held captive for a lengthy period of 126 days, before armed forces raided the building where they were being kept. Only one hostage was killed by the end.

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9. Siege of Marawi -

The Siege of Marawi is also known as the longest urban battle in the modern history of the Philippines. Indeed, the siege was a five-month-long conflict that took place in 2017, and saw many people taken hostage before the captors were killed by armed forces. The city also saw much destruction due to the battle.

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8. Sahara hostage crisis -

In the middle of the Algerian Desert in 2003, more than 30 European tourists (including those pictured) were abducted by a group of belligerents. The captors held them for 208 days before they were finally freed. Press reports later confirmed that a ransom of €5 million had been paid to the kidnappers, and the leader of the kidnappers was detained only months after.

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7. Libyan hostage incident -

The Libyan hostage situation began with the murder of a police constable (pictured) on April 17, 1984 in London, England. The British government believed that Libyan officials were responsible for the constable’s death, and a standoff between the countries ensued. In Libya, a group of British citizens were detained as hostages for almost nine months before the nation’s congress intervened and had them released.

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6. Samal Island hostage crisis -

Four tourists who were staying at the Oceanview resort in the Philippines were kidnapped by militants in September 2015. The harrowing ordeal spanned 13 months, involving multiple ransom demands, tragic executions of two hostages, and a complex pursuit by authorities.

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5. Iran hostage crisis -

The Iranian hostage crisis was a rather intense diplomatic standoff between Iran and the United States. In November 1979, a group of Iranian college students took over the US embassy in Iran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The crisis was fueled by anti-American sentiment, but proved to be a crucial turning point for relations between Iran and the US.

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4. Israel–Hamas war -

The Israel-Hamas war, which is the fourth-longest hostage crisis in history, is currently still ongoing and has been a source of much political tension around the world. For some fifteen months, the militant group known as Hamas has held hundreds of Israeli citizens hostage in the Gaza Strip.

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3. Nduga hostage crisis -

On February 7, 2023, insurgents attacked a plane in Indonesia and took its pilot and five passengers hostage. Although the passengers were released not long after, the pilot (Phillip Mark Mehrtens) still remains in captivity more than 18 months later. Negotiations are currently ongoing.

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2. Lebanon hostage crisis -

Between 1982 and 1992, more than 100 foreigners were taken hostage by an unidentified military group attempting to use them as bargaining chips against the United States. The hostages were held for varied periods, but a man named John McCarthy was held for five years and four months, while another named Terry Anderson (pictured) was detained for almost seven years.

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1. Abduction of Robert Levinson -

In all of history, the longest-held hostage title goes to Robert Levinson, an ex-FBI investigator who was abducted on the Iranian island of Kish on March 9, 2007. Levinson’s whereabouts are currently unknown, and many believe that he perished in Iranian custody, but his captivity has been registered as the longest in history.

Sources: (BBC) (Guinness World Records) (Gordon Poole Agency) (Reuters)

See also: Notorious modern-day kidnappings, and the victims who survived them

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