The Bulgarian man who was taken hostage by an armed gunman in the Apple store on Amsterdam’s Leidseplein on Tuesday has said he wants total rest and privacy to process what happened to him.

A spokesman for Namens de Familie, part of the victim support organisation Slachtofferhulp, told the AD the man will not cooperate with any requests for interviews and has called on everyone who has photos of the hostage-taking to remove them from social media.

The man, originally thought to be British, was threatened with a gun for almost five hours during the stand off. He escaped when the gunman requested water and opened the main door to retrieve it.

The gunman gave chase and was hit by a police car. He later died of his injuries in hospital.

Disturbed

Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the hostage taker. Broadcaster NOS reports that Abdel Rahman Akkad had been found guilty of threatening an ex- girlfriend and had been showing increasingly disturbed behaviour. He was in touch with social services, the broadcaster said.

He had also been jailed in 2020 for 16 days for possessing two tasers, a stiletto and another knife. In both cases, he was also ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment.

According to the Parool, the 27-year-old was born in Amsterdam.

The police investigation into events on the Leidseplein is continuing.