Hamburg airport was evacuated and closed after at least 50 people reported suffering breathing problems after inhaling an “unknown substance.” A gas leak could be behind the breathing problems, according to an airport official.
It all started with people complaining of breathing difficulties after being exposed to unidentified unpleasant odors at the airport in Hamburg on Sunday morning, Hamburger Morgenpost reported.
Terminal 1 and 2 were then evacuated and hundreds of passengers had to wait outside at almost below zero temperatures.
“People are starting to be let back into the airport,” RT’s Ilya Pentrenko reported from Hamburg, adding that the “flights that were meant to land in Germany’s airport of Hamburg” were being sent to other airports.
The substance was found during a security check, a police spokeswoman said, according to Reuters.
An airport official has said that a gas leak was behind the breathing problems, irritated eyes, and nausea, DPA reported.
There have been complaints of irritated eyes from the airport personnel, she added.
A source earlier told Bild that the unknown substance might have gotten into the airport’s air-conditioning system.
The environmental services of the fire brigade are currently trying to establish exactly what the substance was.
