BRUSSELS — Police are searching for five men who kidnapped a postal official and his family in Hasselt on Thursday.

The man and his family were forced at gunpoint to drive to Evere, where the man was ordered to empty the safe.

At about 4am on Thursday, the culprits had forced their entry into the family home in the Kermt district of Hasselt.

The postal worker, his wife and their two sons were driven in the two family cars to Evere, where the man was forced to open the post office safe at about 8am.

The kidnappers threatened to harm the man’s family if he refused. The woman and two children were being held hostage in a car outside, newspaper ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ reported.

The man’s wife and children were released after the man had handed over the cash from the post office vault to the robbers.

The public prosecutor said the culprits escaped with a small amount of money and the family’s car was found dumped in the vicinity of the post office. It had been torched.

Hasselt authorities, the federal police and the local Evere police are investigating the crime.

The victims are in shock and have been offered victim’s assistance from the national post office and the judiciary.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news