Police chase shuts down France's Lyon airport runway

September 11, 2018 | 11:28
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France's Lyon airport temporarily closed its runway on Monday (Sep 10) while police chased an intruder who had rammed a car through a terminal building and sped across the tarmac before being detained, police and judicial sources said.
police chase shuts down frances lyon airport runway
This picture taken with a mobile phone through the window of a plane shows a French gendarmes vehicle on the tarmac of Lyon's Saint-Exupery airport on Monday (Sep 10). (Photo: Reuters)

The car hurtled across the restricted runway area with police cars and a helicopter in pursuit following a chase along a nearby motorway, a police source said.

The driver abandoned his car and tried to flee on foot but was surrounded by officers and arrested, an official at the local public prosecutor's office said.

A police source added that the man's motives were not yet known.

Nobody was injured in the incident but several flights had to be diverted, according to the flight-tracking application Flightradar24.

An AFP journalist who was waiting in one of the planes on the runway saw police vehicles pursuing the man.

The pilot told passengers that the delay was due to a helicopter being dispatched as part of the pursuit.

An amateur video on social media showed the car being chased by several police vehicles.

The motorist then abandons the vehicle and continues on foot, weaving his way past several cars before being wrestled to the ground by officers.

Agencies/ Reuters

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