A man is led away by the police at the airport in Hamburg, Germany following an 18-hour hostage situation that started after a man drove his vehicle through the gates of the airport with his 4-year-old daughter inside. Photo / AP
A man is led away by the police at the airport in Hamburg, Germany following an 18-hour hostage situation that started after a man drove his vehicle through the gates of the airport with his 4-year-old daughter inside. Photo / AP
The hostage situation at Hamburg Airport ended Sunday afternoon, around 18 hours after a man drove his vehicle through the gates of the airport with his 4-year-old daughter inside, authorities said. The man was arrested and the girl appears to be unharmed.
Hamburg police posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that “the hostage situation is over. The suspect has left the car with his daughter. ... The child appears to be unharmed”.
Police also said that “the man was arrested by the emergency services without resistance”.
A man gets out of his vehicle with his child in his arms near an aeroplane at Hamburg Airport, Germany during an 18-hour ordeal. Photo / AP
The airport in the northern German city had been closed to passengers and flights cancelled since Saturday night when the man, who was armed, broke through an airport gate with his vehicle and fired twice into the air with a weapon, according to German news agency dpa. The man drove the vehicle just outside a terminal building and parked it under a plane.
Authorities said the man’s wife had previously contacted them about a child abduction.
Police said the 35-year-old man, a Turkish citizen, had his daughter inside the car after reportedly taking her by force from the mother in an ongoing custody battle.
A psychologist had been negotiating with the man for several hours. Nobody was injured during the stand-off after all passengers had evacuated the airport, police said.
Police vehicles and ambulances at the scene of a security breach at the Hamburg Airport. Photo / AP
The mother of the girl also arrived at the airport earlier on Sunday.
On Sunday evening, police released details about the hostage taker’s identity saying he was a Turkish citizen who was already under investigation for allegedly kidnapping his daughter in March 2022, dpa reported.
At that time, he had travelled to Turkey with his daughter without authorisation, but the mother was later able to bring the child back to Germany.
Police did not give the suspect’s name in line with German privacy rules.
The police at Hamburg Airport lead a man away after he drove his vehicle through the gates of the airport with his 4-year-old daughter inside. Photo / AP
Local media reported that the man, who parked his car next to a Turkish Airlines plane during the standoff, had demanded that he and his daughter could leave Germany and fly to Turkey.
More than 100 flights were cancelled and several planes were rerouted during the 18-hour hostage situation. Thousands of travellers had been affected by the stand-off and hundreds were put up at hotels close by.
Flight operations at the airport resumed on Sunday night, almost 24 hours after the hostage situation began.
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher expressed relief that nobody was injured in the incident.
“The hostage-taking at Hamburg Airport is over after long, dramatic hours,” Tschentscher wrote on X, thanking police for their efforts.
“I wish the mother, the child and her family a lot of strength to cope with these terrible experiences.”
