A German airport was plunged into chaos after a worker discovered an explosive drone.
The device was found on the apron area used for loading and unloading cargo at Leipzig/Halle airport near a Ukrainian Antonov Airlines aircraft, police documents say.
The employee caught and held the drone without realising it could be explosive, German media reported.
Investigators determined the device was equipped with a detonation mechanism, with initial tests revealing explosive nitrates, according to Bild.
The explosive was believed to be Semtex, a substance used in military and demolition operations.
Documents obtained by Welt indicate that a blast was only prevented because the detonator had broken off during flight.
Four Antonov Airlines planes were present at the site when the device was uncovered.
Germany has since launched a counterterrorism investigation into the incident, with state prosecutors and specialist terrorism and extremism units taking charge.
Security officials internally classified the event as a suspected attempted attack.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt cut short his holiday in Italy to attend a crisis meeting on Wednesday evening with senior security chiefs and Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster.
A bomb-disposal robot was sent to the scene as authorities locked down the area and disrupted flight operations
|REUTERS
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, holidaying in Bavaria, was briefed on the situation, Bild reported.
Mr Schuster described the drone alert as a "very serious security incident".
A bomb-disposal robot was sent to the scene as authorities locked down the area and disrupted flight operations.
Nato confirmed it was aware of the attack.
Police also revealed that shortly before midnight, an unidentified flying object was spotted near the airport, forcing several planes including a passenger aircraft to divert to other locations.
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The device was found on the apron area used for loading and unloading cargo at Leipzig/Halle airport near a Ukrainian Antonov Airlines aircraft
|REUTERS
A second object was also detected close to the southern runway and examined using an explosives disposal robot.
During the diversions, a DHL cargo plane struck an unknown object while climbing and was forced to make an unplanned landing in Hanover.
Reports indicated the aircraft's nose had sustained some minor damage.
Lower Saxony police classified that incident as a state-security-related offence and began forensic analysis of the plane.
The airport's southern runway stayed closed while experts inspected the drone, though operations resumed on Wednesday morning.
PICTURED: Police gear up a bomb-disposal expert as he prepares to enter the runway
|REUTERS
Drone sightings are a frequent issue at the airport, police spokesman Olaf Hoppe noted.
Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, pointed the finger at Moscow, telling Welt TV: "Who else could it be but Russia?"
German Green Party intelligence oversight spokesman Konstantin von Notz also suggested Russian involvement, telling Der Spiegel: "Should it transpire that a state is behind this action, this would constitute not merely terrorism but state terrorism directed against the federal republic of Germany and its citizens."
German authorities have long suspected Russia of orchestrating drone flights over airports, military installations and industrial facilities as part of a wider sabotage and espionage campaign.
Moscow has denied any involvement in such incidents.