German airliner hostage-taking ends after brief standoff
BERLIN Tue Apr 1, 2014 1:52pm EDT
(Reuters) - A Kosovo man took a flight attendant hostage on a German airliner on Tuesday but surrendered to police after a brief standoff, police said.
German media said a 50-year-old flight attendant suffered cuts after the man put her in a headlock and held a razor blade to her throat minutes after takeoff from Munich airport.
Other crew rushed to the assistance of the flight attendant and there was a scuffle, Bild online said. When no one understood the man's demands, he barricaded himself in a toilet with the flight attendant. The pilot turned the plane around and returned to the airport.
All 76 passengers disembarked from the Lufthansa plane, which had been bound for Budapest. Only the flight attendant, pilots and the Kosovo man stayed on board.
Police persuaded the 28-year-old, who spoke Albanian, to surrender with help from a translator. His petition for asylum had been rejected and he was being sent back to Budapest, they said. Three flight attendants suffered injuries, police added.
(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Roche)
