After the hostage situation at Hamburg airport, further background to the insane act comes to light. The man who had his four-year-old daughter in his power for eighteen hours had already kidnapped her once.
Salman E. kidnapped the little girl in 2022, reports the German ‘Bild’. Against his mother’s wishes, he drove by car via Bulgaria to Turkey, his country of origin. The police investigated child abduction. The father was sentenced by the court in the Lower Saxon town of Stade near Hamburg to a fine for the kidnapping, the ‘Bild’ wrote, citing a public prosecutor.
After the kidnapping last year, the child’s mother flew to Turkey, spoke to Salman E. and was able to bring the girl back to Germany, the newspaper reports. After the incident, the parents moved to different apartments and lived separately.
Gained access to the apartment under pretext
On Saturday evening, 35-year-old Salman E. appeared at the address of the mother and daughter in Stade and may have gained access to the apartment under some pretext. “The girl’s mother had probably placed an advertisement online to sell something. According to my information, the ex-husband then registered under a false name and thus gained access to the apartment,” Bild quotes an acquaintance.
The father then grabbed the four-year-old girl and took her to Hamburg airport. At the airport, he broke through a barrier at the gate to the airport platform with his car around 8 p.m. He shot into the air in the area and threw firebombs from the car.
Hours of war of nerves
His car then stood next to a Turkish Airlines plane for more than 18 hours. With the daughter inside as a hostage. The police tried for hours to end the hostage situation without bloodshed. She negotiated with the hostage taker in Turkish – and was finally successful early on Sunday afternoon. The 35-year-old man was arrested without resistance, the child was unharmed.
Flight operations have started again
During the nerve-wracking police operation, flight operations in Hamburg were suspended and the airport was closed until Sunday afternoon. The airport has now reopened, according to an airport spokeswoman. According to Senator Andy Grote of the Interior, it was “one of the longest and most challenging operations in recent history” for the Hamburg police. He would like to thank all police colleagues for their strong performance.
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.
