Hamburg Airport Evacuated After "Pepper Spray" Spreads Through Air-Conditioning System - 68 Treated, 9 Hospitalized

The Hamburg Airport was completely evacuated this morning as passengers and staff were exposed to toxic fumes. 68 people were treated and 9 people were hospitalized. Thousands of stranded travelers were forced to stand outside for two hours in sub-freezing temperatures.

German media has reported that a small pepper spray cartridge was discovered in a trash bin in the boarding area. A police spokesman quickly stated that there was no evidence of terrorism. However, the fire department stated that the air-conditioning system was likely used to spread the gas:

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.

Other officials, while conforming that the toxic agent was pepper spray spread through the air-conditioning system appear to be neutral as to whether the incident was purposeful.

It's unclear how pepper spray could enter the system on its own.  

There were additional reports that a Hamburg subway station had also been evacuated, but these have not been confirmed.

The Hamburg Airport is the fifth busiest airport in Germany, and like most German airports features a fair amount of flights to and from the Middle East. The five-busiest non-European routes are:

1. Antalya, Turkey
2. Dubai, UAE
3. Hurghada, Egypt
4. Izmir, Turkey
5. Newark, New Jersey