Well technically the hostages died cause their snipers were crap and did not sync up the targets before taking the shots. For an example of how to do that correctly See the movie Captain Phillips. Also the goal of most hostage situations is to control as many variables as possible and have as much intel as possible before deciding to breach/take action. This movie kinda reminded me of The Negotiator with Sam Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Interesting story if a bit convoluted story wise.