UNITED NATIONS, Oct 3: A man jumped the United Nations headquarters fence and fired several shots in the air which hit the building. The UN Security officers tackled the gunman who was not immediately identified.

However, security sources told Dawn that the man had in his hand papers related to North Korea.

A UN spokesperson said that the shots from the pistol hit the 18th and 20th floors of the UN building, and at least one bullet casing was found in the ladies toilet on the 18th floor.

The shooting took place at 1:10pm when the Security Council was being briefed by UN weapons chief Hans Blix, but there was no immediate indication of any connection. The leaders of Greek and Turkish Cyprus were also in the building and were holding meetings with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the time.