Jonas Walzberg/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Police vehicles and ambulances arrive at the scene of a security breach at Hamburg Airport on Saturday, November 4, 2023.
CNN –
All fighting to and from Hamburg airport ceased early Sunday morning local time as German police seek to “defuse” a hostage situation at the center of a “family drama,” according to an official Hamburg police spokesman.
A 35-year-old man drove his car through security at the airport on Saturday and parked it under a plane, the spokesman said. As of midnight Sunday, the driver was still in his car with his four-year-old daughter, the spokesman added.
A “significant number of special forces” are on site and are trying to investigate the hostage situation, the spokesman said. The man’s wife had previously informed the Hamburg-Stade police that her child was missing.
After he parked his car on the tarmac, acoustic vibrations were heard, which may have been gunshots, the spokesman said. Passengers on the plane were able to leave the plane uninjured via a gangway.
The airport’s official website announced on Saturday evening that all flights had been suspended due to a major police operation.
“Due to a measure taken by the Federal Police, take-offs and landings are currently not possible,” it says on the website.
This is a developing story.