German police advise travelers to avoid Hamburg airport due to an ongoing hostage situation

BERLIN (AP) — German police advised travelers on Sunday not to use Hamburg airport due to a developing hostage situation.

The airport in the northern part of the city has been closed to passengers and flights canceled since Saturday night when an armed man broke through an airport gate with his vehicle and fired twice into the air with a weapon, according to German news agency dpa. Authorities also said the man’s wife had previously contacted them about a child abduction.

Police said that the 35-year-old man had his 4-year-old daughter inside the car whom he had reportedly taken by force from the mother in a possible custody battle.

A psychologist has been negotiating with the man for hours and there was no indication other people could be harmed since all passengers had evacuated the airport, police said.

“We must currently assume that he is in possession of a live firearm and possibly also explosive devices of an unknown type,” police wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Our top priority is to protect the child. According to our current knowledge, the child is physically well,” they added.

Hundreds of people whose flights couldn’t depart on Saturday night because of the situation were put up at hotels close by. Arriving planes were either rerouted to other German airports or canceled.