A SUSPECTED hostage-taking at Hamburg airport ended after 6 p. m. with the arrest of the man and the rescue of the child, police said.
The airport closed to all takeoffs and landings on Saturday and remained closed today.
Police arrived in large numbers last night after a 35-year-old man drove an Audi with a four-year-old woman through an airport security gate and onto the tarmac.
The suspect broke through the barrier around 8 p. m. local time, he fired two shots and then threw two bottles of burning “Molotov cocktail” out of the vehicle, a federal police spokesman said.
Police arrested the man and rescued the boy at the center of the alleged hostage-taking.
Hamburg police posted at 1:30 p. m. on X, formerly Twitter: “Hostage-taking is over.
“The suspect got out of the car with his daughter.
“The man was detained during the emergency without resistance.
“The child appears to be unharmed. “
Air operations will need to resume “as soon as possible” as police and security forces work together to reopen terminals and access roads to the airport.
As of 11 a. m. , police were still negotiating with the driver, who they said “possessed a genuine firearm and, in all likelihood, also explosive devices of unknown type. “
They said at the time: “Our most sensible priority is the child. Based on our existing findings, the child is doing well physically. “
The suspect’s wife allegedly alleged possible child abduction prior to the incident.
Police said the girl’s mother told them the father had been in contact with her, but would not verify her earlier statements that the gunman had fired shots.
They said they believed the 35-year-old was the girl’s father and that she had been forcibly separated from her mother as part of a possible custody battle.
The mother reportedly alerted the government through an emergency call that the father was rushing to the airport with the child.
A police spokesman said late Saturday: “Lately we assume that a custody conflict is the origin of the operation. “
Negotiations between the guy and the police continued into the wee hours of the morning.
Hamburg police shared on Sunday morning on X, formerly Twitter: “Negotiations will continue. The operation continues.
“Traffic measures are needed around the @HamburgAirport.
“It’s unimaginable to walk into the airport. “
Passengers and pick-up were asked not to go to the airport because the roads were blocked.
The Hamburg police reported on Saturday afternoon: “There has recently been a primary police operation on the tarmac at @HamburgAirport.
“We are on the ground with a contingent of first responders.
“Lately we’ve had a static hostage situation. “
No one was injured, police said.
The gunman was seen driving an Audi without license plates outdoors in Terminal 1, German newspaper Bild reported.
It reportedly sped through the airport’s north gate and headed for planes on the tarmac before coming to a stop next to a Turkish Airlines passenger plane.
Police spokeswoman Sandra Levgrün told Bild: “This plane was occupied by passengers, but has now been evacuated and cleared. “
The father wanted to travel with his daughter to Turkey by plane, the publication reports.
Due to the disruption of air traffic in Hamburg last night and all access to the terminals was blocked, around 3,200 passengers from the plane and surrounding buildings had to be moved to safety.
A spokeswoman for the airport said: “Due to a police operation, flight operations at Hamburg Airport have been suspended since 20:24 and will resume today.
“There are twenty-seven aircraft movements (six departures and 21 landings). “
Flight operations “suspended indefinitely. “
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