BREAKING NEWS: URGENT -- 3 dead, including gunman, after Sydney siege ends

USPA News - Two hostages have died and several others have been injured after heavily-armed commandos stormed a Sydney cafe where a man was holding a number of hostages for more than sixteen hours, police said on Tuesday. A third fatality is believed to be the gunman.

New South Wales Police said in a statement that three people had died and four others were injured after a confrontation occurred between police and the hostage-taker, who was earlier identified as 50-year-old Iranian refugee Man Haron Monis. The fatalities were identified as a 50-year-old man, a 34-year-old man, and a 38-year-old woman, all whom were pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital. The statement added that a woman had been taken to hospital with a gunshot wound to her shoulder, but her condition was not immediately known. Two other women and a male police officer were also taken to hospital but suffered non-life threatening injuries, police said. A 35-year-old woman was taken to hospital as a precaution.