Australian police say gunman among three killed in cafe siege

A police officer assists a man with his armoured suit near Lindt Cafe in Martin Place in central Sydney December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Jason Reed

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A gunman at the centre of a 16-hour siege in a Sydney cafe was one of three people killed when heavily armed security forces stormed the building following an exchange of gunfire, Australian police said on Tuesday. No explosives had been found and 17 hostages had been accounted for, Andrew Scipione, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales, told reporters. (Reporting by Colin Packham and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Dean Yates)