Arrest warrant for hostage-taker at Hamburg airport
An arrest warrant was issued on Monday for the hostage-taker at Hamburg Airport. This was announced by the public prosecutor's office in the afternoon.
The 35-year-old is therefore strongly suspected of gaining access to his ex-wife's apartment in Stade and forcibly abducting their four-year-old daughter, who lives there, in a rented car. He is said to have threatened the ex-wife, who had sole custody of their daughter, with a semi-automatic handgun and fired a shot into the air.
The accused then allegedly fled with the abducted child to Hamburg Airport, where he broke through a barrier shortly after 8 p.m. and entered the airport apron by car.
According to the public prosecutor's office, he reported via the police emergency call that he had a bomb in his vehicle and demanded that he and his daughter leave the country for Turkey. The accused is said to have fired three more shots from the pistol and thrown two incendiary devices from the car. In view of the threat expressed by the accused that he would shoot or detonate the explosives, an arrest was initially refrained from.
After around 18 hours, the man was arrested by the police. According to the public prosecutor's office, a homemade dummy explosive belt was seized in addition to the firearm. It was a book wrapped in aluminum foil with wires inserted into it.
Despite the ongoing air traffic at Hamburg Airport, the hostage-taker's actions significantly disrupted the normal operations due to his threats and actions. Furthermore, the incident raised concerns about heightened criminal activities at such public places.
Source: www.dpa.com
