From the BZ editorial team
Shortly after 8 p.m., an armed man was seen at “Hamburg Airport Helmut Schmidt”.
Amok alarm at Hamburg airport!
According to BILD information, the unknown person was apparently seen in a vehicle in front of Terminal 1. He apparently broke through a safety barrier with the car and raced onto the apron. Major alarm for state and federal police!
Terrible! According to BILD information, the man is holding two children captive in his car. Shortly before the gunman was noticed by security forces at the airport, his wife had alerted the police and warned the officers in an emergency call that her husband was racing to the airport – with the children! As BILD learned, the father is parked directly under a scheduled airliner on the apron!
The man is said to have started several fires in the airport area! That’s not all: the man threw two burning bottles out of the car, “a kind of Molotov cocktails,” said Thomas Gerbert, spokesman for the federal police.
Air traffic in Hamburg has been completely stopped. All access to the terminals is blocked. The airport’s homepage said in the evening: “Due to a federal police measure, no take-offs and landings are currently possible.” The airport spokeswoman said that from the official closure of the airport at 8:24 p.m. to the end of operations at 11 p.m. there would normally be six take-offs and 21 Landings expected.
The situation is confusing, strong police forces are on site with a large contingent. As BILD learned, the GSG9 was requested.
Police helicopters are also in the air, armed police officers are entering Terminal 1, and evacuated people are standing in front of the terminals.
The police say they are now in contact with the gunman at Hamburg airport. Thomas Gerbert, spokesman for the Federal Police, was initially unable to say on Saturday evening how exactly the communication would take place.
The man is said to have started several fires in the airport area! According to current BILD information, he shot several times from his vehicle and barricaded himself in the Audi with the children.