Drone with an explosive device found at a German airport and detonator removed

BERLIN (AP) — A drone with an explosive device was found at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport 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 nearby 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.

Photos from the scene showed police technicians with an explosives-disposal robot 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 information about who might have been responsible for the drone. NATO said it was aware of the incident but referred queries to German authorities.

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, German Interior Ministry spokesperson Leonard Kaminski said he does not at this point.

Police forensic technicians prepare to deploy an explosive-disposal robot near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport, in Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday Aug. 5, 2026, where flight operations were suspended overnight after a drone sighting was reported and another object was found near a runway. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)

Police forensic technicians prepare to deploy an explosive-disposal robot near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport, in Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday Aug. 5, 2026, where flight operations were suspended overnight after a drone sighting was reported and another object was found near a runway. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)

A view of Leipzig/Halle Airport where flight operations were suspended overnight after a sighting of a flying was reported and another object was found near a runway, in Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (Tobias Junghanns/dpa via AP)

FILE -A Qatar Airways plane takes off from Leipzig/Halle Airport, July 18, 2025, Saxony, Schkeuditz. (Jan Woitas/dpa/dpa via AP, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Fans fainting at a baseball park. Lions dying at a zoo. A woman taking shelter in a car found dead. A doctor advising people to eat dog meat to promote stamina.

The scenes caused by a record heat wave in Northeast Asia illustrate how extreme temperatures have gripped South Korea, North Korea and Japan.

In most of South Korea, a major heat wave advisory was in place Wednesday as temperatures in densely populated greater Seoul, home to 20 million people, and adjacent areas soared as high as 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

North Korean authorities have issued a heat wave advisory in many areas and called for people to take safety steps to avoid heat-related health problems.

Japan's anti-disaster agency reported more than 18,000 people with heat stroke symptoms were transported to hospitals during the week of July 20 to 26.

Since mid-May in South Korea, about 2,220 people have been diagnosed with heat-related illnesses and 19 have died, according to a report from Interior and Safety Ministry. About 17,140 livestock, such as chickens, ducks and pigs, and about 160,000 farmed fishes also have died.

On Sunday, the southeastern city of Yangsan saw temperatures reaching 42.5 Celsius (108.5 Fahrenheit), the highest figure recorded since weather observation began in Korea in 1904.

In a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, President Lee Jae Myung instructed officials to view the ongoing heat wave as “a national disaster” and make all-out efforts to protect lives.

On Tuesday night, a spectator in his 20s collapsed while watching a baseball game between SSG Landers and LG Twins at a stadium in Incheon city, west of Seoul. Emergency personnel administered CPR and transported him to a hospital, halting the game for about 10 minutes.

Another fan in his 20s fell unconscious and received treatment at the stadium after the game, according to the Korea Baseball Organization, which announced Wednesday that all 10 games scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday were canceled and would be rescheduled.

Min Son Yong, deputy director of the internal medicine department at Pyongyang General Hospital, told North Korea’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Sunday that people should eat dog meat and fish porridge to supplement protein to beat the heat.

Euphemistically known as “dangogi,” or sweet meat, dog meat has long been considered a stamina food in North Korea and is traditionally eaten during the hottest time of the year.

Min also recommended watermelons, cucumbers, tomatoes, mung beans and ginger to cool down, the newspaper reported.

Dog meat also has been eaten in China, Vietnam and African countries, as well as in South Korea, which plans to formally ban slaughtering, breeding or selling dog meat for human consumption beginning next year.

Japan’s Environment Ministry issued a heat stroke alert for most of the western and southern Japan on Wednesday. While temperatures in the Tokyo region temporarily fell this week, intense heat continued to hit southern Japan.

In the southwestern city of Kumamoto, relief and cleanup work continued following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on July 28 that killed 38 people, including a woman in her 70s who developed heat stroke while taking shelter in a car. More than 43,000 households were still without water on Wednesday.

Three lions have died at a Tokyo zoo, with a number of their animal peers developing apparent heatstroke symptoms.

Tama Zoological Park said, Mugi, a 3-year-old female lion, developed a loss of appetite on July 19 and was unable to stand the following day. Suspecting heat problem, zoo keepers provided ventilation and a water sprinkler to cool her down. The lion eventually died on July 28 despite treatment with subcutaneous fluid, liver tonics and vitamins, the zoo said.

Two other female lions, Ichigo, 11, and Luena, 15, also died within a few days, the zoo said.

Autopsies showed dehydration and multiple organ failure in all three animals and officials say they believe heat was the cause of the health problems.

Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.

Visitors holding umbrellas to avoid sunshine leave the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The outdoor fitness equipments are empty due to the heat in Goyang, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People sit in the shade to avoid the heat in Goyang, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Visitors hold umbrellas to avoid sunshine at the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)