Meigem and the Vinkt churches and at various farms in the neighbourhood. Some hostages were killed on the spot. At the Meigem church, an explosion killed 27 hostages. 27 May Adolf Hitler, on the German radio, demanded Belgium's immediate and unconditional surrender. King Leopold III of Belgium announced to his government that he would use his authority as commander-in-chief to lay down arms. The Chasseurs ardennais, unaware of the developments, were still holding and defending the bridge against vastly superior odds. For unclear reasons, the 225th Division now started to execute their hostages. Refugees were taken out at random from the columns on the trek south and promptly executed. Only four managed to escape; one, a priest, survived by being buried under two dead colleagues. 28 May Leopold III and the Belgian Army capitulated in the early morning (4 am, 5 am German time). That did not stop the killings in Vinkt. Nine hostages were shot after the capitulation. The last five victims were forced to dig their own graves beforehand. Total number of victims Most sources claim between 86 and 140 victims, 86 being the total number of executed victims. The divergence stems from the fact that other historians include the victims in front of the bridge and those 27 killed by the explosion at the church in Meigem. The exploded grenade on May 25 was almost certainly German, but the explosion at the church has usually been attributed to Belgian artillery. However, there remains a controversy over the church explosion, as some victims later claimed to have seen German officers throw hand grenades into the church, and all women hostages had been taken out of the church just before the explosion, which ensured that all 27 victims of the incident were male. A very different picture was painted by the priest who managed to escape on May 27. He claimed to have seen dead women and children, even babies. Since no corpses of women or children were later found, that would imply, if true, that the scene was later cleaned up, and the real death toll of the executions is much higher than the 86 or 140 usually claimed. However, most Belgian historians believe that any additional refugee victims seen by the priest were killed in crossfire and not intentionally. Aftermath As news of the carnage spread, German press sources denied it or excused it, claiming that Belgian