Bobby Boermans’ Netflix crime thriller film, iHostage, is centered around a shocking true incident that took place some three years ago on February 22, 2022, in Leidseplein, one of the prime locations in Central Amsterdam famous for its buzzing nightlife. At around 5:30 in the evening, the police control room received information about a possible robbery. A 27-year-old Amsterdammer, Abdel Rahman Akkad, armed with a machine pistol and a handgun, took around 70 people hostage inside an Apple Store located on the ground floor of the Hirsch building. As soon as the customers heard of the robbery, chaos ensued and people standing near the entrance quickly fled the store. Those who couldn’t access the front gates hid themselves in different locations just to protect themselves from the assailant.
Abdel Died In The Hospital
Some eleven minutes later, at 5:41 pm, a police car arrived at the scene, and Abdel fired at them four times; thankfully, no one was injured. As the authorities were trying to secure the location with fences, Abdel made a call to the police call center to put forward his demands in exchange for the safety and release of the hostages. He wanted 200 million euros in cryptocurrency and a free pass, i.e., to be allowed to leave the store without being arrested. Abdel, standing near the store’s window, used a 44-year-old Bulgarian man as cover, holding him at gunpoint. On the call, he threatened the authorities he’d blow himself up if his demands wouldn’t be met in time. Some bystanders had reported that the assailant was wearing a bomb vest, suggesting that he might be able to set off lethal explosives.
The entire scene is quite similar to what we saw in the trailer able to set off Netflix’s iHostage, where a man wearing a camouflage suit took out a Skorpion VZ 61 submachine gun from his bag and pointed it at the customers present inside the Apple Store. In the trailer, one could spot around 1 staff member and 3 customers hiding inside a cramped broom closet, which, as crazy as it may sound, did happen in real life. An employee named Alex Manuputty, who was constantly in touch with the police negotiator over a phone call, showed immense courage and protected the customers by hiding them from the assailant. At around 7:01, Abdel, getting restless, sent a few texts and photos on Whatsapp to AT5, the local television station, informing them that the government valued money over the citizens’ lives. As time passed by, the people hiding inside the store finally found a way to sneak out of the store, and police extracted dozens of hostages from the building.
In the evening, Abdel requested some water, which was delivered to the store’s door with the help of a police robot at 10:30 p.m. Abdel instructed the Bulgarian man to take the water bottle from the robot, but the hostage made a run towards the police to escape his assailant’s grasp. Abdel impulsively ran after him, which was when he was intentionally hit by a police car, causing him to suffer fatal injuries from which he didn’t recover. As soon as Abdel hit the ground, the police officers held him at gunpoint and examined him for the explosives. However, once they made sure that he wasn’t a serious threat to anyone, they quickly took him to the hospital, where a day later he took his last breath. Abdel died on the evening of February 23, a day after the crime was committed.
The Explosives Weren’t Real
The authorities later found out that he had been carrying harmless plastic explosives mostly used by the Ministry of Defense for training purposes before soldiers started working with real ones. Of course, they weren’t initially certain of this piece of information, which made Abdel really dangerous and drove them to handle the matter very delicately; things could have gotten really messy very easily.
Abdel Had A Criminal Record
Even though Abdel died the next day, the police kept investigating the matter to find out if Abdel acted on his own or if there were other parties involved in the crime. As soon as the police identified the assailant, they quickly raided two houses, one where Abdel used to live and the other he visited quite often. The house located in Spaarndammerstraat belonged to Abdel’s father, a Syrian who had relocated himself to Amsterdam.
As per the reports, Abdel already had a criminal record and had previously been arrested under the Weapons and Ammunition Act for the possession of firearms. His last conviction was in May 2021 when his ex-girlfriend reported him for harassment. While examining the crime scene, the authorities even found a suspicious AH Van parked outside the Hirsch building that belonged to Abdel, who worked as a delivery driver for Albert Heijn, the supermarket chain in the Netherlands.
The Mayor Honored Five People
A month after the violent hostage situation, the Mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema honored the Bulgarian man, along with the four other people who had hidden themselves in the closet. All these five received a “hero pin” from the mayor, who thanked them for their act of courage. If it wasn’t for the Bulgarian man, the police might never have been able to arrest the assailant, and may have had to submit to his demands. But his split second of bravery made all the difference in this case. The Bulgarian hostage, after witnessing such a torturous nightmare, personally requested the media to remove his name and footage from their reports and respect his privacy. This means, in Netflix’s iHostage, the names of the hostages will likely be altered.
The Investigation Continues
Abdel’s death made the matter a whole lot more complicated for the police. Because, you see, in the end, there were too many questions that the police couldn’t get answers to. Like, what was Abdel’s prime objective? Where did he get his firearms from? And last but not least, who gave him the explosives? I guess the motive’s still understandable, considering Abdel’s financial condition was in shambles. He had started an installation company in 2018, but things didn’t work out. So obviously he was in desperate need of money, yet the police never found out who supplied him with the firearms to carry out such a crime.
