‘Hostage’ terror at Hamburg airport: ‘Turkish’ gunman, 35, ‘kidnaps his four-year-old daughter, crashes car on runway, then shoots into air and throws Molotov cocktails’ amid ‘custody dispute with woman’
Hamburg airport remains closed this morning as police try to negotiate with a father who rammed his car through a security gate and threw Molotov cocktails onto the runway while his four-year-old daughter was held hostage in his car.
The situation has lasted for more than 12 hours, with German officials warning that the airport will remain closed to take-offs and landings while negotiations with the 35-year-old continue.
Authorities believe the terrifying ordeal was caused by a ‘custody dispute’, with the gunman’s desperate wife reporting a possible child abduction, while the young girl was allegedly forcibly taken from her mother.
Last night the armed man reported the German newspaper Image Because he was a Turkish national, he plowed through an airport barrier in his Audi at around 8:00 PM local time (7:00 PM GMT).
He fired a gun twice and then threw two flaming bottles from the vehicle, police said. The driver then barricaded himself at the foot of a Turkish Airlines plane.
The 35-year-old father is said to have rammed his Audi at the airport around 8pm local time last night, barricading himself at the foot of a Turkish Airlines plane. In the photo: negotiations are underway this morning – more than twelve hours later
Police took a photo at the runway this morning as the man sat in his car with a four-year-old girl
Police vehicles and ambulances arrive at the scene of a security breach at Hamburg Airport
Officers from the German police unit BFE stand on the tarmac of Hamburg Airport as passengers are evacuated
Special police arrive at Hamburg airport this evening following the shocking incident
This morning, Hamburg police and Hamburg Airport said the airport remained closed while negotiations with the father continued. The situation has now lasted more than twelve hours
The airport was quickly closed and 3,200 passengers were reportedly evacuated from planes parked on the runway. Desperate police continue to negotiate with the man this morning.
Police psychologists are also at the airport to find a solution with the driver. Officers communicated with the man through a translator who spoke Turkish.
The management of Hamburg Airport reported on X this morning just after 8 a.m.: ‘The situation at the airport remains unchanged, the police operation continues.
“Flight operations remain suspended until further notice. Police ask all passengers and those who pick them up not to come to the airport. The access roads are largely closed.’
The city’s police added: ‘Negotiations will continue. The operational situation remains.”
The force reiterated that traffic measures around the huge airport remain in place and that entry into the airport remains impossible.
Police spokeswoman Sandra Levgrun told the regional channel NDR that there is probably a father and his child in the car.
She called it a “very good sign” that he had been in contact with the authorities for a long time.
A police van looks at the hostage taker’s car parked under the Turkish Airlines plane
The police form a group at the airport this morning as the hostage situation continues
Police officers were pictured outside Hamburg airport as passengers were evacuated
Police vehicles closed the road to Hamburg airport after reports of a ‘hostage situation’
Passengers were evacuated from Hamburg Airport today after a gunman drove through the airport around 8pm local time
Police vehicles were pictured blocking access to Hamburg Airport
After firing the shots, the man threw two burning bottles from the vehicle. Images showed that there was a fire on the asphalt
Armed police patrol the airport as passengers are evacuated
Police monitor the scene of a security breach at Hamburg Airport after a vehicle broke through
Fire vehicles arrive at a security scene at Hamburg Airport. Flights have been cancelled
Firefighters, rescuers and police stand outside Hamburg Airport as police deal with a ‘hostage situation’
The incident has caused major and ongoing disruptions at one of Europe’s busiest airports.
On Saturday evening alone, seventeen flights scheduled to land in Hamburg were diverted. Another 286 flights are planned for today, carrying around 34,500 passengers.
Last night, a large number of state and federal police officers were at the scene and near the vehicle, federal police spokesman Thomas Gerbert told German news agency DPA.
Police said no one appeared to be injured, but the airport announced it is currently closed for take-offs and landings.
Bild reported that the shooter drove in front of Terminal 1 in an Audi without a license plate.
The driver initially sped away, but a few minutes later broke through a security barrier at the north gate and drove towards the planes.
He is said to have started a fire in the airport area by throwing flaming bottles from the car, which police spokesman Gerbert described as ‘a kind of Molotov cocktails’.
Images shared on social media show flames on the asphalt as firefighters rushed to the scene.
Passengers are evacuated from Hamburg airport after the incident on November 5
Parts of a destroyed barrier have been removed from a gate at Hamburg airport after the gunman drove through a gate
A Hamburg Public Transport Service bus shows an ‘Evacuation’ message on a display outside Hamburg Airport
Special forces, firefighters and officers all arrived at the scene as a major police operation was underway this morning.
Police said all terminals had been evacuated, as well as a plane the armed man parked next to.
The passenger plane was full, but everyone was reportedly evacuated and a meeting point was set up at the nearby Radisson Blue hotel opposite the airport.
Police also said a psychologist spoke to the man and there was no indication that other people could be injured as all passengers had evacuated the airport.