A drone with an explosive device is found at a German airport and a detonator removed

BERLIN (AP) — A drone with an explosive device was found at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport, a major freight hub, and a detonator was removed from the object, authorities said Wednesday.

Both the airport's runways were closed and several flights, including one passenger plane, were diverted to other airports after a flying object was sighted near the airport shortly before midnight, police said, and an anti-explosives robot was deployed to check an object near the south runway.

A statement later Wednesday from Saxony's state criminal police office and prosecutors in the state capital of Dresden said that an airport employee discovered a drone near the airport's south runway with “an unknown explosive device,” and the object was examined by police. They removed its detonator. The statement didn't elaborate on the nature of the device.

Meanwhile, an apparent second flying object collided with a freight airplane after it aborted a landing because the runway was closed, police and prosecutors said. The plane flew to another German airport, Hannover, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the northwest, where officials found slight damage.

The north runway at Leipzig/Halle was reopened after about two hours. The south runway was scheduled to be out of action for maintenance on Wednesday. Authorities said there was no danger to passengers or airport employees, and flights weren't affected on Wednesday.

German Interior Ministry spokesperson Leonard Kaminski said that a drone was found at the airport but declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation. He wouldn't comment on German media reports that it was spotted near a Ukrainian plane.

The airport is a major cargo hub and the planes located there include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.

There was no immediate word on who might have been responsible.

In 2024, an incendiary device ignited at a logistics center at the airport and set fire to a freight container, part of a plot that Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind. The flight it was supposed to take was delayed.

Asked whether he sees any direct connection to the overnight incident, Kaminski said he doesn’t at this point.