Crime - Hamburg Airport: Security tightened after hostage-taking
Following the hostage-taking at Hamburg Airport, security precautions at the airport are being tightened - and standards are also to be reviewed nationwide. According to Hamburg's State Councillor Thomas Schuster, following the incident, the Conference of Interior Ministers has called on the federal government to examine nationwide regulations to prevent intrusion into airport premises in future and requested that the legal situation be adapted.
In Hamburg, for example, massive folding gates and hydraulically retractable bollards at the entrances and exits should prevent unauthorized access to the airfield, said airport boss Michael Eggenschwiler at a joint hearing of the Interior and Economics Committees of the Hamburg Parliament. Emergency gates would be reinforced with concrete bollards connected with steel cables.
The airport had previously announced new structural safety precautions at the access roads as immediate measures. These include concrete barriers and mobile ram protection systems, as an airport spokeswoman explained. Some exits have also been relocated. These measures are to be replaced by permanent reinforcements in the coming weeks.
Hostage drama at the beginning of November
On November 4, a 35-year-old man in a rental car broke through a barrier consisting of three gates and raced onto the airfield. His four-year-old daughter was also in the car. According to Matthias Tresp, head of the Hamburg security police, the man fired three shots from a pistol, threw two incendiary devices and threatened with a bomb, which turned out to be a dummy. "Any access option becomes difficult when you're talking about bombs," he said.
The perpetrator then communicated "very much and very openly" with the police via cell phone. "Our primary goal was to calm the situation through constant negotiations," said the incident commander, describing the situation. After 19 hours of negotiations, the concept worked. "At 2.30 p.m., we were finally able to get him to get out of the car with his daughter." The man had previously wanted to force him and his kidnapped daughter to leave the country for Turkey. He has been in custody since the crime.
Airport boss: constant reassessment of security standards necessary
The airport is "legally obliged to protect itself against unauthorized intrusion", said State Councillor Andreas Rieckhof from the economic authority responsible for the airport. Compliance is monitored by the National Quality Control Center - most recently "exactly four weeks before the breakthrough took place". "Although the safety precautions were adhered to in full, it was still possible." The incident had made it clear that safety standards had to be constantly reassessed, said airport boss Eggenschwiler.
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Source: www.stern.de
