Hamburg airport briefly shut after corrosive discharge

[webfact]

Hamburg airport briefly shut after corrosive discharge

REUTERS

 

Firemen are seen outside the Helmut Schmidt airport in Hamburg, Germany February 12, 2017. The airport was closed after unknown substance was found during security check. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - German authorities on Sunday briefly closed the airport in the northern city of Hamburg after a discharge of a corrosive substance caused eye irritation and breathing difficulties among 50 people in a security check area, a police spokeswoman said.

 

Firefighters and ambulances were rushed to the scene after the incident, which occurred in an area where passenger luggage is scanned by security staff.

 

Firefighters are trying to determine the source of the discharge and the nature of the corrosive substance.

 

Lightly dressed passengers were rushed outside the terminal but were allowed back in shortly after, the police spokeswoman said.

A spokeswoman for the airport said flights had resumed as of 1.45 p.m. (1245 GMT).

 

According to live flight tracking website flightradar24.com some flights were diverted to other airports after the incident.

 

(Reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann and Thomas Seythal; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Toby Chopra and Stephen Powell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-13

[Ralf61]

Terror hysteria or well-founded safety measures? Hard to decide, and I do not want to be in the shoes of those decision makers, who have to act immediately and always right. But where shall we end up, if it takes not more than a cell phone call or a rotten egg to scare masses of people?