The children were with her, Block said through a company spokeswoman on Tuesday. It was unclear exactly where the children were. Danish police believed that the incident on New Year’s Eve was related to a custody dispute between the children’s parents.
“The children are doing well. I ask for your understanding that I am not making any further statements at this time, especially out of concern for the well-being of my children,” said the spokeswoman’s statement.
The Hamburg public prosecutor’s office had previously assumed that the children were in the care of their mother. “There are currently no concrete indications that there is a danger to the children,” a spokeswoman for the authority said at midday.
Children were forced to get into the car
According to the Danish police, the father was attacked near a restaurant on New Year’s Eve while watching the New Year’s Eve fireworks with his two children in the town of Gråsten (Gravenstein). The two children, reportedly a boy aged ten and a girl aged 13, were forced to get into a car. It is being investigated for bodily harm and deprivation of liberty.
The perpetrators fled in two cars with German license plates. The two vehicles were found in Germany by the German police, the Danish police said on Tuesday afternoon. She did not give any further details.
The Hamburg police said the facts were known and were the subject of ongoing investigations. “Further information cannot be provided at the moment due to the investigation being only at the beginning,” it said.
The Block Group, with around 2,400 employees, is best known for the Block House steakhouse chain and the Hamburg five-star hotel Grand Elysée. There is a steakhouse restaurant at the Naschmarkt in Vienna, among others.
