Man enters Hamburg airport with a car, fires bullets, flights stopped

Panic spread at the busy Hamburg Airport in Germany on Saturday night when a man entered the premises in a car and started firing bullets.

Police said that traffic was stopped at Hamburg Airport. Also, after the hostage situation arose, the terminals were evacuated. Police said they believe a "custody dispute" may have been the reason for the incident.

"At approximately 8 p.m. (0600 GMT), a gunman drove his car through the security area onto the tarmac (the road adjacent to the airstrip), firing two shots into the air and setting off two burning rockets," a police spokesman said. Bottles were also thrown from the car." Police said.

The police added that at least two persons, including a child, were traveling in the car.

The spokesperson said that the wife of the person driving the car had made an emergency call and warned the police about the kidnapping of their child. "We are on site with a large contingent of emergency services. We are treating this as a stable hostage situation at this time," Hamburg police said on Twitter.

The car remained parked in the apron area of the airport. Police said later Saturday that they believe "a custody dispute is the background to this operation." Police said that along with psychologists, officers specializing in communication are also on the scene and are in contact with the person in the car.