Hostage attack at Hamburg airport over: father arrested, child unharmed

After more than eighteen hours, the hostage-taking at Hamburg airport ended this afternoon. The Hamburg police report X that the 35-year-old suspect got out of the car together with his four-year-old daughter. The man has been arrested and his daughter is unharmed.

Last night around 8 p.m., an armed man broke through barriers and parked his car on the airport platform where the planes are located. The man held his daughter hostage and allegedly demanded to fly to Turkey with her.

According to a police spokesperson, the man threw two burning bottles from the car during the hostage attack. He also shot into the air when he entered the airport. No damage was caused and no one was injured.

Air traffic resumed around 5:50 p.m., although many flights are still delayed or canceled.

A police negotiation team spoke with the man for hours. He eventually surrendered after negotiations, which were conducted in Turkish. The child’s mother was also present at the airport.

The hostage situation started last night in the town of Stade in Lower Saxony. Based on initial findings, police say the man had a dispute with his 39-year-old ex-wife over custody of his child.

The police confirm that the man was previously the subject of investigation. In March 2022 he traveled to Turkey with his daughter. The mother then brought her back to Germany.

It is not clear how the man was able to drive onto the heavily guarded airport grounds. According to the police, he used “considerable force” and drove through a fence at high speed. “He had no regard for the risks to the airport employees or himself,” the police say.

The airport was closed last night and much of today. Many thousands of travelers were duped by the hostage taking. Yesterday alone, 27 flights were canceled, with around 3,200 travelers. Dozens of flights were also canceled or diverted today.

More than 900 police officers and other officials were deployed in the police actions.