SOFTPEDIA NEWS Six gunmen who had stormed into a school in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap near Angkor Wat, in northwestern Cambodia on Thursday took hostage 70 children

An Australian 5-year-old boy is held hostage at a private English-language school in the town of Siem Reap, 225 kilometers north-west of the Cambodian capital Pnom Penh.

Six gunmen who had storm into the International School of New York in Siem Reap, took 70 children hostage and later released 30 of them, according to Associated Press.

The area around the school was sealed and Police authorities announced they have communicated with the hostage-takers by mobile phone.

Apparently, the gunmen have demanded almost $ 30.000, a 12-seat van, weapons (two B-40 rocket launchers and 6 shotguns) and safe passage to Poipet on the Thai border to the west, reported Reuters Agency.

The Australian Ambassador to Cambodia, Lisa Kim Filipetto has tried to reach Sean Reap, worried about the safety of the children, endeavoring to do everything in her powers to get them released.

The other children who were taken hostages were American, Irish, British, Singaporean, Canadian, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Swiss, Indonesian, Indian, Italian and Filipino.