The mother of a British hostage photographed with an Egyptian plane hijacker who was wearing a fake suicide vest has branded her son’s actions “stupid”.
Pauline Innes scolded her son Ben as he arrived back in the UK less than 48 hours after the image emerged of him stood grinning next to a man who claimed to have smuggled a bomb belt on board. The health and safety auditor from Leeds was one of 72 passengers and crew taken hostage by Seif Eldin Mustafa soon after their EgyptAir flight took off from Alexandria on Tuesday.
His decision to pose for the snap, which was printed on newspaper front pages, has attracted criticism.
As Innes’s mother collected him from Manchester airport late on Wednesday she said: “I don’t know why you did it,” according to the Sun.
Mustafa, 59, is understood to have revealed the fake suicide belt soon after the flight to Cairo took off, triggering an emergency diversion to Cyprus.
Innes is said to have contacted his mother soon after the drama began to reassure her he would keep a low profile. However, at some point during the five-hour standoff, the 26-year-old decided to “throw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity” and pose for a picture with his captor.
The snap, in which the hijacker can be seen wearing a khaki-coloured fabric belt with a series of pouches wired together, went viral after it was posted on social media.
“Mum was very upset seeing me, but I made it safe and sound,” he told the newspaper as he arrived back in the UK. “The past two days have been crazy, unbelievable. But I’m here now and things can get back to normal. I’ll be relaxing at home with Mum,” he added.
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