Abduction of a young girl by her father at Hamburg Airport ends after 18 hours
German police said Sunday that they put an end to the abduction of a 4-year-old girl, held since Saturday by her father in a vehicle parked on the tarmac at Hamburg airport, after arresting the man “without resistance”.
“The hostage situation ended, the man left the car with his daughter and was arrested without resistance,” local police said on the X network (formerly known as Twitter), adding that the girl “appears to be in good health.”
The kidnapping, related to a dispute over custody of the girl with her mother, began on Saturday night.
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The 35-year-old man, who was trying to leave for Turkey with his daughter, held the girl for about 18 hours in a car parked at the foot of a Turkish Airlines plane.
The individual, a Turkish national according to Bild newspaper, had driven his car into the airport terminal, firing twice into the air and throwing two incendiary bottles, according to police.
Police had mobilized psychologists and teams of negotiators to the scene, in addition to intervention units.
German forces held lengthy negotiations in Turkish throughout the night and part of Sunday to convince the man to surrender.
Traffic at Hamburg airport was suspended Saturday night, forcing 17 flights to be diverted.
With information from AFP
Plataforma Informativa de Aviación Comercial líder en América Latina.