Wanted man Zlatko Sikorsky has kept police at bay for nearly a full day, as he remains holed up in a Sunshine Coast apartment complex surrounded by heavily armed officers.

Mr Sikorsky is wanted in connection with the discovery of a woman’s body in a barrel earlier this week.

A police spokesman said residents of the unit block at Alexandra Headland had been evacuated, with specialist police continuing to negotiate with Mr Sikorsky.

Police declared an emergency situation about 3.25pm on Friday, with officers saying negotiations with the man would “take as long as they take”.

Mr Sikorsky, 34, is believed to be alone in the unit. It is not clear at this stage whether he is armed.

On Friday, resident Jackie Burnham said she spent the afternoon and much of the night in darkness as she tried to stay safe during the siege.

A massive police manhunt has been underway for Zlakto Sikorsky since Wednesday, when he escaped in a silver 2014 Holden Commodore. Photo: Queensland Police

She said she had been home since early Friday afternoon and only learned of the nearby danger when her husband Matt let her know.

When she spoke to the ABC via phone at 10pm – seven hours into the siege – she could hear a man demanding to speak to his father, and saying that he would put “the guns in the bag”.

“He’s fired up now, you can hear,” she said. “I think he wants to speak to his dad. I think he’s frustrated.”

She said that with no contact with police, she had been left with no update on what was happening.

“I’m really nervous,” she said. “If he’s armed, it could be a bad situation.”

Several streets remain blocked off as police negotiations with Zlatko Sikorsky continue. Photo: ABC

Ms Burnham said she has been in her bedroom the entire evening because her loungeroom is visible from outside the house.

Police have set up a mobile facility at the scene, giving officers the same capability as they would have if they were working from a police station.

Shortly before 11.30pm, police provided a brief update to the media.

While the negotiations were progressing, a spokesman said it could be “five minutes or five hours” before the volatile situation could be defused.

Specialist police remain in place at Juan Street on Saturday morning. Photo: ABC

Superintendent Darryl Johnson said residents in the complex had been urged to remain indoors.

“Those people that are here just … stay inside at the moment,” he said.

“We hope we come out with a successful resolution.”

He would not elaborate on how police found Mr Sikorsky, but said he hoped for a “peaceful” resolution.

“I won’t go into what’s happening inside at the moment,” he said.

“We expect a peaceful resolution – it may take some time.”

“I can’t say how we came to locate the male here, what I can say is that the investigation has been ongoing from Logan for a couple of days now.”

“I don’t know the rationale behind why this person is here on the Sunshine Coast.”

Residents confront emergency lockdown

As negotiations continued late on Friday, the streets of the beachside suburb were lined with onlookers around Juan Street where police blocked off traffic.

The complex is just one street back from the beachfront.

Nearby resident Joanna Tink said it was strange to watch the emergency unfold in such a quiet neighbourhood.

“When I came home, all of our apartment building was in lockdown and the police had all the streets cut off – that’s when I saw that something was very different for a Friday afternoon,” she said.

“I just hope that everyone’s safe – it’s probably a hard situation and I just feel for the family and the other people.”

She said the scene was a “big surprise for the school holidays”.

“Hopefully it ends peacefully and it ends tonight,” she said.

A major search for Mr Sikorsky began on Wednesday afternoon after a woman’s body was found in a barrel on the back of a black ute found at Staplyton, south of Brisbane.

Police believe Mr Sikorsky dumped the ute and then escaped in a silver 2014 Holden Commodore.

-ABC