BERLIN – German officials on Sunday evacuated hundreds of people from Hamburg Airport and briefly closed the facility after dozens of passengers reported eye irritation and breathing difficulties in a security luggage-check area.
Maik Lewerenz, spokesman for the Hamburg federal police, said that about 68 people were injured.
Rene Schönhardt, spokesman for the Hamburg police, said there was “no evidence” that the incident was a terrorist attack. Instead, he said, the injuries most likely stemmed from a cartridge containing pepper spray that was found in the bin provided for travelers to dispose of liquids before boarding.
“Nothing else has been found,” Schönhardt said. “The fire department didn’t detect any dangerous substances.”
Werner Nölken, spokesman for the Hamburg fire department said, “We are not assuming a terrorist attack.” The current assumption, he said, is that “some clown, for whatever reason” released pepper spray into an air-conditioning vent, causing the substance to spread.
The cartridge found in the bin was only the size of a lipstick, he said, so it wouldn’t have been possible to injure so many people without the air-conditioning system diffusing the gas.
Passengers began complaining about a bad smell and irritated eyes around 11 a.m., and many were coughing. Flights were halted, and by 12.30 p.m. all the airport terminals had been evacuated.
Airport officials said flights resumed by about 2 p.m., according to the Associated Press, and all terminals have been reopened.
Although authorities were quick to rule out a terrorist agenda, the incident shows how easy it is to disrupt everyday life at a time of rising fear of such attacks in Germany. The country has been on edge since the Dec. 19 attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that left 12 people dead and dozens injured.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Stephanie Kirchner
