air traffic at Hamburg airport still blocked by hostage situation

Traffic at Hamburg airport was blocked on Sunday, November 5, by a hostage situation on the tarmac, after the alleged kidnapping of a child by his father as part of a family conflict, according to local authorities. . On Saturday evening, around 8 p.m., the armed man drove his car through an airport gate and onto the tarmac, shooting twice in the air and throwing two burning bottles out of the passenger compartment, said a police spokesperson. The latter says she believes that a “dispute concerning the custody of a child is at the origin” of this incident. According to her, in the car there are a father and his child.

The wife of the driver of the car had alerted the police to the child’s kidnapping, a police spokesperson said. “We have mobilized police psychologists and we are currently speaking with the perpetrator. We are banking on a negotiated solution here”, a police spokeswoman told regional public television channel NDR. She described as “very good sign” that the father of the family remained in contact with the authorities “for so long”.