Flight operations at Hamburg airport remain suspended on Sunday after an armed man entered the tarmac on Saturday evening. The police are still negotiating with the hostage taker who probably kidnapped his four-year-old daughter.
According to federal police, an armed man broke through a gate with his car and drove onto the airport platform around 8 p.m. The man then threw “some kind of Molotov cocktail” out of the car. He has his four-year-old daughter in the car – apparently this was preceded by a custody dispute with his mother.
The airport was immediately closed over a wide area and the two terminals were evacuated. All passengers on the planes were removed from the planes and housed in a nearby airport hotel.
Flight operations suspended indefinitely
According to a police spokesperson, a total of 3,200 passengers were affected. Flight operations will remain suspended indefinitely. The airport announced this early on Sunday morning. “There will be flight cancellations and delays throughout the day,” it said. The police have asked passengers not to travel to the airport for the time being. The S-Bahn also does not go to the airport.
The Hamburg police announced late on Saturday evening that they had been in contact with the hostage taker. The negotiations with the presumably 35-year-old man are taking place in Turkish. “We rely on a negotiated solution here,” said a police spokeswoman for the German news agency.
“He wants to speak”
She was positive about the fact that the discussions dragged on for so long: “That is definitely a good sign,” she emphasizes. “He wants to talk to us and we initially assess that as very positive.” A special police task force and police psychologists are also on site.
The man’s wife, who had reportedly been in Stade near Hamburg, had previously reported possible child abduction to state police. “We currently believe that a custody dispute is the background to the operation,” police said shortly before midnight.
No injuries so far
The father is believed to have taken the child from the mother and possibly forcibly put him in the car before driving to Hamburg and onto the airport tarmac, a police spokeswoman said when asked.
Shortly before midnight, police had no information that anyone had been injured. At that time, the police no longer saw any acute danger to third parties. The Turkish Airlines plane under which the man had parked his car was evacuated.
An airport spokeswoman said six takeoffs and 21 landings would normally have been expected from the airport’s official closure at 8.24pm until operations closed at 11pm. The police speak of a “static hostage situation”.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
