Former Hostage Describes Terror Of Captivity

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A former hostage described the terror he felt while being held captive and urged those caught up in an armed siege in the Sydney cafe to remain calm.

The siege was brought to end after more than 16 hours when armed police stormed the building.

Gunfire and explosions were heard and several people have been injured.

Mark Henderson was taken hostage in 2003 by left-wing rebels while trekking in the Colombian jungle.

"You are completely powerless, everything you took for granted is gone, you have no freedom," he told Sky News.

Speaking about the siege in the Lindt cafe, he said: "The one thing I would say is to stay calm, to try to understand what is going on around you.

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Gallery: Latest Images From Australia

A bomb disposal robot moves towards Sydney's Lindt Cafe after armed police moved in to end the seige in a barrage of gunfire.

A woman is carried out of the cafe after armed police stormed the building where a gunman was holding up to 20 hostages

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Several people were taken away from the scene on stretchers in the aftermath of the assault on the cafe

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Armed officers were apparently forced to go into the building after a group of five hostages made thier escape

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"Also to stay positive. I stayed positive through my ordeal, because if I kept in my mind that I could get out one day, it would happen."

Asked how the hostages in Australia might be feeling, he said: "Confused, I imagine quite scared, curious about what is going on and what is going on in the outside world.

"In those first few hours we just went along with what they (the kidnappers) said.

"For the first few days I did not believe it was happening to me, this is something that happens on the news or to someone else."

Mr Henderson was held for 101 days, during which time he was made to walk more than 700 miles in remote mountainous jungle.

He described how the situation changed over time and that there was "a slow acceptance" of what was happening.

"It was like an out-of-the-body experience. It took quite a while for it to sink in," he said.

He tried to develop relationships with some of his captors and understand their motives.

"At some point you have to control your terror and anger otherwise it gets worse and worse," he said.

In the Sydney siege several customers and members of staff managed to escape before police stormed the building.

Mr Henderson said some of the other foreign tourists he was with managed to escape six or seven hours into the kidnapping.

But others who tried to escape further into their ordeal were later captured and treated cruelly.

"It takes a certain kind of person who could do that (escape) and the situation has to be right....you are putting your life in danger," he said.

Mr Henderson was released along with four other hostages in December 2003 when the rebels handed them over to mediators.

He described the impact of coming out alive from a hostage situation.

"I think every person is different. Every one of us has come out differently at the end and dealt with it differently.

"A lot is to do with the person you are going into it and the support you have on the way out and the support you have outside. There is no set way you should feel or react. There's no set of instructions I can give.

"Time is a very good healer."

Six years after his release Mr Henderson returned to meet one of his captors and made a documentary about his experiences.

:: Follow live updates of the Sydney siege

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