Kriti Mehrotra
Revisiting a true story, Netflix’s ‘iHostage’ is a thriller that follows a heavily armed gunman who storms an Apple store in the heart of Amsterdam. The intense film spans everything from the terrifying initial takeover to the hostages’ efforts to escape, to how the police pull out all stops to eventually resolve the matter following hours in a stand-off. However, one of the most intriguing aspects of the film is the experience of the three clients turned hostages — Lukas, Bente, and Soof — who’d been trapped in a closet the entire time.
Lukas, Bente, and Soof Represent Real Hostages From the Apple Store Case
Around 5:30 pm on February 22, 2022, a young man wearing a camouflage suit and brandishing two weapons stepped into the Apple store in Leidseplein in the heart of Amsterdam to take over its control. He subsequently opened fire at nothing, resulting in all employees and patrons trying to flee as quickly as possible, either by scrambling out or heading upstairs to find another way. No one had any idea at this point that just a single customer, a Bulgarian native, would be left behind on the floor and later be held at gunpoint for hours, all the while about 70 other people were essentially trapped too.
This gunman – Ammar Ajar in the film and Abdel Rahman Akkad in real life – reportedly had no idea about these other hostages, so his focus remained on just the man in his sight. However, there were around 65 people who had found their way to the first floor with nowhere else to go, and four more were in a broom closet mere feet away from the duo on the ground level. As per reports, sales representative Alex Manuputty (Mingus in the movie) managed to usher three clients into this closet, accessible only via an employee key card, after noticing they needed help. According to his accounts, he was rushing towards the exit when he spotted a mother and her 13-year-old daughter waiting for the elevator, hoping to escape to the floor above.
Yet, it was apparent to Alex that this plan wouldn’t work, so he decided to help them out, only to realize a young male patron he had been attending to previously was behind him, trying to hide too. That’s when he knew it was too late for them to try and get out through the main door, so he made a quick judgment call to open the broom closet near the elevator and hide everyone inside. Soof and her teenage child Bente in the film likely represent the real-life mother-daughter duo in this case, whereas college-goer Lukas seems to be inspired by the young male customer Mingus/Alex helped. The truth is the real identities of these three hostages have never been made public, so it’s highly likely the movie takes creative liberties to have their characters be more three-dimensional on screen.
Real Life Lukas, Bente, and Soof Have Never Stepped into the Limelight
While it’s true that Alex quietly contacted the police from the broom closet to let them know about their situation and then maintained communication, it wasn’t until the threat of 27-year-old Abdel was dispelled over 5 hours later – around 10:30 pm – that he and the three others by his side were rescued. However, he had proved to be crucial even from inside the small room by reportedly telling his contact point the ins and outs of the store to help the specialized police units on standby rescue the hostages from the floor above. As if that’s not enough, he even made sure to let them know when the store’s lights and music would automatically die down so they could relay it to the hostage taker to prevent any alarms, shock, and possible further chaos. He has corroborated all this over the years.
Unlike Alex, though, the real-life counterparts of Soof, Bente, and Lukas have preferred to remain out of the limelight over the years in order to deal with this traumatic experience away from prying eyes. They have consciously chosen not to even have their names or professions (for the adults) released to the public so as to protect not just their privacy but also that of their loved ones in the long run. So, we can only imagine that since this terrifying incident and later earning the Hero’s Pin for Bravery from the city of Amsterdam on March 31, 2022, alongside Alex and the hostage on the floor, this trio has seemingly been doing their best to move on from the past for good.
Read More: Was Ammar Ajar Wearing a Real or Fake Bomb?
