18-hour armed standoff at Hamburg Airport ends peacefully, child uninjured

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- An armed standoff between German police and a man who took his 4-year-old daughter hostage ended peacefully Sunday about 18 hours after the man drove his vehicle onto a Hamburg Airport tarmac.

The 35-year-old man was arrested Sunday without incident, and the child was not harmed, Hamburg Police said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The airport, however, remains closed as the investigation continues. Thousands of people were evacuated from the airport and dozens of flights in and out of Hamburg were canceled in response to the incident.

"Preparations are underway for the fastest possible resumption of flight operations -- subject to final police clearance," airport officials said.

"The access roads and terminals are currently still closed. We are in close coordination with the security forces as to when the access roads and terminals will be reopened. There are still considerable cancellations and delays today."

Police said the incident started about 8 p.m. local time on Saturday as a custody dispute. The man crashed through a security area at the airport and threw burning bottles out of his vehicle, police said.