A woman has revealed the terrifying moment she realised her cousin was one of the people held hostage in the Lindt Cafe in Sydney.
'I was texting her as she was walking into the shop and she told me she was going into Lindt to get some hot chocolate,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'She texted me an exclamation point at around 9:35am, and I knew there was something wrong.'
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A young woman revealed that her cousin is one of the hostages still being held in the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place
The young woman asked not be identified out of fear for her cousin's safety, knowing that every detail released could jeopardise police operations to release the hostages from their 10-hour-long ordeal.
'My aunt has been crying on the phone to me, as well as my dad frantically panicking during cliffhanger moments on the news,' she said.
She said that her cousin was a passionate 25-year-old from Sydney who worked in the fashion industry and is adored by her family, including her mother and sibling who are desperate for her to be returned to them safely.
'I'm so worried for her, I keep thinking what she's going through, if she's being tortured, if she's being hurt - I love her to death, I would hate for her to be hurt.
'We're just all so worried and we just want her home,' she said.
The young woman said that when she saw hostages fleeing from the cafe she 'had a spark of hope that it was her,' and was crushed when she realised her cousin was still inside.
Despite reports that the gunman has allowed several of the hostages to contact their families and loved ones, the young woman revealed that since her message alerting her to the situation, the family have received no more communication from her.
Terror on the streets of Sydney: This is the moment one of five people managed to escape the Martin Place cafe where an armed gunman is holding more than ten people hostage
Run for your life: A distressed hostage - a cafe employee - runs into the arms of a waiting police officer
Panic in Martin Place: Two of the three male hostages who escaped the Lindt chocolate cafe around 3:45pm on Monday afternoon are believed to be customers
Ray Hadley: The woman talked to the 2GB broadcaster this afternoon
The young woman said that waiting for a solution to the crisis was anguish, and that the entire family was terrified of what might happen during the night.
'Our family is scared to death, to be honest, our stomachs are tied in knots knowing she's still in there,' she said.
Reports from inside the Lindt Cafe have surfaced throughout the day, including a worried mother whose son is trapped inside the cafe with.
Mel, the mother of an apprentice plumber, told Radio 2GB's Ray Hadley she received a message from her son saying, 'Mum, I'm in the Lindt chocolate cafe in Sydney.
'My heart just dropped,' she told Hadley, who says he has had three telephone conversations with a terrified hostage inside the shop.
'I sent him a text message saying, "What's going on, are you OK?" He said, "I'm OK mum, can't talk.'
'I haven't heard anything since,' the woman said late on Monday afternoon.
Five people - two women and three men - have this afternoon escaped the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, in the city's central business district.
The 18-year-old man had popped into the cafe at around 9:30am to purchase a coffee.
Hadley also said he has spoken to a young man off air who was inside the cafe, and that the man told him some hostages have fallen ill.
'There are some people who are not well,' the broadcaster said. 'They're distraught.'
'I can hear the person in the background issuing instructions.
'One person is quite ill [and) needs medical attention.'
Hostage terror: More than a dozen staff and customers are thought to be held prisoner inside the Lindt chocolate cafe store in the heart of Sydney's CBD
Terror in Martin Place: Armed police streamed to the area of the siege with assault weapons
Shahada flag: This flag, which reads 'There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah', is regularly used by the extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra
Militant's demand: The flag adopted by the Islamic State terror group
Hadley indicated the hostage taker was trying to make demands through the media.
Hadley said he was not in a position to negotiate with the hostage-taker and that he had been in contact with police.
Channel 7 reporters have returned to their Martin Place office directly opposite the cafe and are reporting that they can see the gunman, who is wearing black trousers, a white shirt and is unshaven.
They also believed the gunman was lining up hostages against the glass cafe windows and keeping them in position for hours at a time.
The gunman had ordered his victims to hold up the Shahada flag, which is used as an emblem of the extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting the Assad government in Syria.
There is believed to be two bombs within the cafe and two more planted in the surrounds of the central city area.
'There are requests being made I can't provide,' Mr Hadley said on air.
'I'm aware of the same sort of phone calls going to the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). They can't respond to them.
'The media can't play a role in negotiating with people purporting to be from Islamic State holding hostages in a cafe in Sydney.'
NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn confirmed police negotiators had made contact with the militant this afternoon.
Authority: NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said she believed all hostages were unharmed as the siege unfolded
Brigade: Heavily armed police closed off downtown Sydney around the Lindt chocolate cafe where more than 10 people are being held
Over there: Armed police are seen in Martin Place, a legal, administrative and media centre that runs through the heart of Sydney's CBD
Hadley said he received advice from NSW state Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione's office during the conversations.
'I'm not so big-headed I think I can handle that situation without the expert advice I have received,' he said.
The siege immediately followed reports of a counter-terrorism raids in the suburbs of north-western Sydney, however NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia they believe two events were unrelated.
The siege has stretched into the evening in Sydney.
More developments are expected from a press conference later Monday, after police debrief the freed hostages.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2874090/There-people-not-Talkback-host-Ray-Hadley-says-tense-phone-conversations-hostage-need-urgent-medical-attention.html#ixzz3M93grt6A
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