Hamburg airport briefly closed over airborne irritant

Authorities investigate an apparent airborne irritant in Hamburg airport — (Image credit: Axel Heimken/Getty Images)

The airport in Hamburg, Germany, was briefly evacuated and shut down Sunday after about 50 people complained of coughing and eye pain caused by an unknown airborne irritant near a security checkpoint.

A strong smell was noticed in the area, and an unknown "corrosive" substance was reportedly discovered nearby as fire crews investigated. Physicians were on site to examine the people affected, but no serious injuries seem to have occurred. After about an hour, the airport reopened and flights resumed.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.