A SUSPECTED hostage situation at Hamburg Airport has ended after 18 hours with the man arrested and the child rescued, police say.
The airport closed for all takeoffs and landings on Saturday evening and remained closed today.
9
9
9
9
Police arrived in large numbers last night after a man, 35, drove an Audi with a four-year-old girl inside through an airport security gate onto the tarmac.
The suspect ploughed through the barrier about 8pm local time, fired a weapon twice, then threw two burning "Molotov cocktail" bottles out of the vehicle, a spokesman for the federal police said.
Police have now arrested the man and saved the child at the centre of the suspected hostage standoff.
Hamburg Police posted to X, formerly Twitter, about 1.30pm on Sunday: "The hostage situation is over.
Read more German news
"The suspect got out of the car with his daughter.
"The man was arrested by the emergency services without resistance.
"The child appears to be unharmed."
Flight operations are to resume "as quickly as possible" as police and security forces work together to reopen terminals and access roads to the airport.
Most read in The Sun
GIB VS SLIMMain event reaction as HS Tikky Tokky wanted by POLICE
GREGG UNDER FIREKaty Brand breaks silence on MasterChef 'tart' moment with Gregg Wallace
CROCODILE TEARSMoment coward sobs after leaving lover dying in his bed for 30 HOURS
TELLY BLOWJermaine Jenas axed from another TV job after being sacked from Match Of The Day
Cops were still in negotiations with the driver at 11am, who they assumed was "in possession of a live firearm and possibly also explosive devices of an unknown type".
They said at the time: "Our top priority is protecting the child. According to our current findings, the child is doing well physically."
The suspect's wife is reported to have alleged a possible child abduction before the incident.
Police said the child's mother had told them the father had been in contact with her, but would not confirm their earlier statements that the man was armed and had fired shots.
They said they assumed the 35-year-old man was the father of the young girl, and that she had been taken by force from her mother in a possible custody battle.
The mother is said to have warned officials in an emergency call that the father was racing to the airport with the child.
A police spokesman said on Saturday night: "We are currently assuming that a custody dispute is the background to the operation."
Negotiations between the man and police continued into the early hours of this morning.
Hamburg Police shared to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday morning: "Negotiations will continue. The operational situation continues.
"Traffic measures around @HamburgAirport are still required.
"Entering the airport is not possible."
Passengers and those collecting them were advised not to go to the airport as access roads were blocked off.
Hamburg Police said on Saturday night: "There is currently a major police operation on the tarmac at @HamburgAirport.
"We are on site with a large contingent of emergency services.
"We are currently assuming a static hostage situation."
No one is understood to have been injured, police said.
The armed man was spotted driving in front of Terminal 1 in an Audi without a licence plate, German newspaper Bild reported.
He reportedly sped through the airport's north gate and drove toward the planes on the tarmac before coming to a stop beside 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 reported.
As air traffic in Hamburg was last night brought to a stop, and all access to the terminals were blocked, some 3,200 passengers from the aircraft and surrounding buildings had to be brought to safety.
An airport spokeswoman said: "Due to a police operation, flight operations at Hamburg Airport have been suspended since 8.24pm and will not resume today.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"Twenty-seven flight movements are affected (six departures and 21 landings)."
Flight operations remain "suspended indefinitely".
9
9
9
9
9
The Sun is your go to destination for the best celebrity news, football news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Download our fantastic, new and improved free App for the best ever Sun Online experience. For iPhone click here, for Android click here.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.
