request 4 June: Two negotiators talk with the hijackers for hours 5 June: Two pregnant women, including future mayor of Utrecht , are allowed to leave the train 8 June: An ill passenger is released 9 June: Two negotiators again speak with the hijackers for hours 05:00 June 11: The hostage crisis ends after 482 hours Aftermath Three hijackers survived and were convicted to Prison sentences of six to nine years. In 2007, a memorial service was held for the killed hijackers. Two of the surviving hijackers, having converted to Christianity, held a meeting with former victims the same year. According to official sources, six of the hijackers were killed by bullets shot at the train from a distance. However, many Moluccans believe that the hijackers were still alive when soldiers boarded the train and that they had been executed. On 1 June 2013, reports emerged that an investigation by journalist Jan Beckers and one of the former hijackers, Junus Ririmasse, had concluded that three, and possibly four, of the hijackers had still been alive when the train was stormed, and had been executed by marines. In November 2014, media reported that Justice Minister van Agt allegedly ordered military commanders to leave no hijackers alive. An in-depth investigation, published the same month, concluded that no executions had taken place, but that unarmed hijackers had been killed by Marines. In 2018, a Dutch court ruled that the Dutch government did not have to pay compensation to relatives of two of the hijackers killed by Marines. The ruling was upheld on appeal on 1 June 2021. In popular culture In 2009, , a Dutch- and Ambonese Malay-language television film was made about this hostage crisis, directed by Hanro Smitsman. See also Republic of South Maluku 1975 Indonesian consulate hostage crisis 1978 Dutch province hall hostage crisis Attempt at kidnapping Juliana of the Netherlands List of hostage crises Terrorism in the European Union References External links Article from 1977 in Time magazine Article in BBC "on this day" Dutch Polygoon newsreel images from 1977 Dutch Polygoon newsreel images of the military action from 1977 Images from the armoured car unit involved in the action Images in the Dutch National Archive South Moluccan Suicide Commando in MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base 1977 Dutch train hostage crisis Hostage taking in the Netherlands Moluccan Dutch Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1977 Terrorist incidents on railway systems in