Clinton meets with freed hostages

PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton says she's "immensely relieved" no one was hurt when a man took people hostage in her Rochester, N.H. office.

"It appears he is someone who was in need of help and sought attention in absolutely the wrong way," Clinton said. "It was for me and my campaign an especially tense and difficult day."

Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, met Friday night in Portsmouth, N.H., with the hostages and their families, CNN reported Saturday.

Lee Eisenberg was taken into custody without incident Friday afternoon. A bomb he claimed to have taped to his chest turned out to be road flares.

Clinton said Eisenberg was not known to her campaign staff until he walked in the door of the campaign office Friday.

"We're immensely relieved that this has ended peacefully," Clinton said, praising her staff in the Rochester office for their courage and for handling the situation "extraordinarily well."