Munich airport temporarily shut after drone sightings in the area

MUNICH (AP) — Munich airport was temporarily shut down late Thursday after a string of drone sightings in the area, airport, officials said.

Germany’s air traffic control restricted flights at the airport shortly after 10 p.m. and then halted them altogether, airport operators said in a statement.

Federal police said operations resumed early Friday and it remained unclear who was responsible, the German news agency dpa reported. The airport’s website showed some departures had taken place early Friday.

Airport officials said 17 flights were unable to take off, affecting almost 3,000 passengers, while 15 arriving flights were diverted to three other airports in Germany and one in Vienna, Austria.

Hundreds of stranded passengers spent the night in cots set up in terminals or were taken to hotels and blankets, drinks and snacks were distributed to them, dpa reported.

The incident was the latest in a series of incidents of mysterious drone sightings over airports as well as other critical infrastructure sites.

It wasn’t immediately clear who has been behind the flyovers, but European authorities have expressed concerns Russia could be behind them. Russian authorities have rejected claims of involvement in recent drone incidents in Denmark.