Arrest warrant issued for Hamburg hostage-taker
An arrest warrant was issued on Monday for the hostage-taker at Hamburg Airport. This was announced by the public prosecutor's office.
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 when she called for help.
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.
Threatened with a bomb
The public prosecutor's office went on to say that he had informed the police by emergency call that he had a bomb in his vehicle and was demanding 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 about 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.
The air traffic at Hamburg Airport was disrupted due to the hostage situation, as authorities focused on resolving the crisis. The suspect, wanted for air traffic disruption and crimes including abduction and threats with a bomb, had originally sought asylum at the airport.
Source: www.dpa.com
