Dutch dad, toddler dead after armed hostage drama

The Hague (AFP) - A Dutch man killed his three-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself during an hours-long hostage drama at a home in the Netherlands on Thursday, police and officials said.

"The suspected shooter and his three-year-old daughter died in the incident," Petra Dassen, mayor of the small southern city of Reuven told a televised press conference.

Heavily-armed police burst through door and found the bodies of a 44-year-old man and his daughter on the first floor, police chief Gery Veldhuis said.

"Both suffered suspected bullet wounds," he added.

The drama started earlier in the day in the small town on the German border, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Amsterdam, when the man shot his ex-wife in the leg after an argument.

He then grabbed the toddler and ran into the home, where the little girl lived with her mother and parents.

Police surrounded the house and the man told negotiators he would surrender at 12.30 pm (1130 GMT), after "having a cuddle with his daughter".

However Veldhuis said police later heard two muffled sounds but were not sure whether they were gunshots.

Just over two hours later, after failing to make further contact with the man, officers stormed the house and found the bodies inside, he said.

Shortly afterwards, television pictures showed paramedics removing the bodies from the home.

The Netherlands was shaken in May by the murder of two young brothers aged seven and nine by their father, who killed them and dumped their bodies in a ditch near the Rhine river.

The father then committed suicide.

"It is a dark day for our community," Reuven mayor Dassen said of the latest incident.