An EgyptAir plane that took off from the coastal city of Alexandria for Cairo has been hijacked and forced to divert to Larnaca airport in Cyprus.
Flight MS181 had 55 passengers on board when it was seized, Egyptian authorities said. Everyone on board has been released except for the captain and co-pilot, a female crew member, a security officer and three passengers. The Cyprus foreign ministry identified the hijacker as Seif Eldin Mustafa, and said negotiations were ongoing.
There was confusion over his motivation: Egypt’s civil aviation minister, Sharif Fathi, said he had not made any concrete demands so far, though according to reports and the Cyprus president, the hijacking is connected to a woman, believed to be the hijacker’s estranged wife, who has reportedly arrived at the airport. The man is believed to have thrown a letter to her from the plane.
There were also unconfirmed reports that he had demanded the release of prisoners in Egypt.
Egyptian authorities said the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosive belt, but did not know whether the belt was real or fake. Addressing reporters with the visiting European parliament president, Martin Schulz, the Cypriot leader, Nikos Anastasiades, ruled out terrorism, saying instead that that the hijacking had been instigated by a man bent on reuniting with his former wife.
“It’s all to do with a woman,” he said. “We are doing everything to release the hostages.”
Cyprus police said the control tower was contacted at 8.30am (5.30am GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at 8.50am.
No comments:
Post a Comment