Sydney siege: Australia begins investigation into deaths

An investigation has been launched into the police operation which ended a siege in a cafe in Sydney, Australia.

Two people died, along with the gunman, as police commandos stormed the cafe in Martin Place in the heart of Sydney early on Tuesday morning.

Tributes are being paid to the victims and flags are flying at half mast on all NSW government buildings.

Police are also investigating the motives of the attacker, Man Haron Monis, a known extremist and criminal.

The probe into the police actions, led by New South Wales Homicide Squad detectives on behalf of the state's coroner, could take weeks or months.

At a press conference on Tuesday, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said: "It's extremely important that I do not say a great deal about the events of the past 24 hours [while that investigation takes place]."

Central Sydney was put in lockdown as the gunman, an Iranian refugee who had lived in Australia for many years, seized hostages on Monday morning.

The 16-hour siege ended after police stormed the Lindt cafe in the early hours of Tuesday.

Local media have named those who died as cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34 and Sydney lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38.

Four people were injured, including a policeman hit in the face by shotgun pellets. The policeman has been discharged from hospital.

Two of the surviving hostages were pregnant and taken to hospital for "health and welfare purposes", NSW Police said in a statement. They were uninjured.

Three other surviving hostages suffered gunshot wounds to the shoulder, foot and leg respectively and all are in a stable condition, said the statement.

Two hostages were killed and four people injured as the siege came to a violent end

The 16-hour siege saw a major police presence deployed in the heart of Sydney

Commissioner Burn would not say whether Monis shot the hostages himself. Nor would she confirm media reports that cafe manager Mr Johnson was shot when he grappled with Monis, who was carrying a gun.

Asked if police stormed the cafe because of something they saw or heard from within the cafe, Commissioner Burn would say only that police acted on an "emergency plan".

"We had in place an emergency action plan. That plan was activated at a particular point in time... the information I have is that shots were heard and an emergency action plan was activated," she said.

"Can I just say I think every single one of those hostages acted courageously."