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Hamburg airport traffic halted over tense ‘custody dispute hostage situation’
Psychologist and police negotiators are in contact with the gunman who rammed his car through the security area at Hamburg airport.
A car is parked under a Turkish Airlines plane at the Hamburg Airport which has been closed after a gunman had broken through a gate with his vehicle and had already fired twice into the air, a spokesman for the federal police said on Saturday evening. Photo: Jonas Walzberg/dpa/AFP
Traffic at Hamburg airport was halted and the terminals evacuated on Saturday night over a “hostage situation” believed to have arisen over a custody dispute, police said.
At around 8pm, a gunman had rammed his car through the security area onto the tarmac, firing two shots in the air and flinging two burning bottles out of the vehicle, a police spokesman said.
At least two individuals — including a child — were in the car, police said.
Hamburg airport ‘hostage situation’: Child abducted
The wife of the driver had placed an emergency call alerting police to the abduction of her child, the spokesman added.
“We are on site with a large contingent of emergency services. We are currently assuming a static hostage situation,” Hamburg police said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The car remained parked in the apron area of the airport.
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Custody dispute
Police added later Saturday that they believed “that a custody dispute is the background to this operation”.
Psychologists, as well as officers specialised in negotiations, are on site, said police, adding that they were in contact with the individual in the vehicle.
- This is a developing story.
— By © Agence France-Presse
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