Crime - Penetration by hostage-takers: Airport gates with ram protection
Almost six weeks after a hostage-taker entered Hamburg Airport, new structural security measures have been put in place at the access roads. These include concrete barriers and mobile ram protection systems, as an airport spokeswoman explained.
Some exits have also been relocated. In the coming weeks, permanent reinforcements will replace the immediate measures. The plan is to install massive protection systems such as steel folding gates and hydraulically retractable steel bollards. The airport is investing over one million euros in this.
Incident in November
The modifications are intended to prevent vehicles from forcing their way into the airport grounds. On November 4, a 35-year-old man in a rental car broke through a barrier consisting of several gates and raced onto the airport apron. His four-year-old daughter was also in the car. According to the public prosecutor's office, he fired three shots from a pistol, threw two incendiary devices and threatened with a bomb, which later turned out to be a dummy.
The background to the crime was a custody dispute: The man wanted to force his daughter, who had previously been abducted from his ex-wife's apartment in Stade (Lower Saxony), to leave the country for Turkey. The hostage-taker only surrendered after around 18 hours of negotiations. The incident and the police operation are also the subject of a meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Internal Affairs today.
Improving security
Airport boss Michael Eggenschwiler announced structural measures to improve security after the incident. New cameras and a fence sensor system had already been installed following the intrusion by climate activists last July. These are currently being tested, the airport spokeswoman explained.
Ten members of the Last Generation group cut open the fence on July 13 and rode towards the tarmac on bicycles. According to the federal police, four of them had stuck to the access roads near the runways.
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- To ensure the safety of all citizens, new safety precautions have been implemented at Hamburg Airport, following a previous incident involving a vehicle forcing its way through the airport grounds.
- In light of the recent incident at Hamburg Airport, where a man entered with a rental car and engaged in criminal activities, the German government is investing over one million euros in permanent reinforcements.
- The new security measures at Hamburg Airport, which include concrete barriers and mobile ram protection systems, are aimed at preventing such incidents involving vehicles and potential threats to air traffic.
- After a custody dispute led to a man forcing his way into Hamburg Airport with his four-year-old daughter in the car, airports in Germany, including Hamburg, are paying close attention to enhancing their security measures.
- In the aftermath of the hostage-taking incident at Hamburg Airport, reforms have been made to the airport's access roads to instill a sense of security and safety among German citizens and air travelers, addressing concerns about vehicle-related criminality.
Source: www.stern.de
