Egypt Air Plane With US Citizens On Board Hijacked And Forced To Land In Cyprus
An Egypt Air plane was hijacked this morning and landed on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The crew and four passengers are still being held.
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An Egypt Air plane has been hijacked and has landed on the European island of Cyprus.
The hijacker is believed to be a single man seeking asylum, and local reports have questioned if the bomb he is allegedly armed with is real.
Cyprus's public TV and radio provider has said it is believed the hijacker might have personal rather than political motives.
He has an ex-wife in Cyprus, it said, and reported that witnesses said the man threw a letter from the plane in Larnaca, written in Arabic, asking that it be delivered to his ex-wife, who is a Cypriot.
According to Egyptian media reports there were 10 US citizens and eight British citizens on the hijacked plane, however this morning the airline said that all passengers, with the exception of four 'foreigners' had been released. The crew is still being held.
The plane, which had been travelling from Alexandria to Cairo when it was seized, was believed to have a total of 81 passengers on board, according to reports by Cyprus State Radio, and a further seven crew. The hijacker was said to be a single individual with a bomb.
The hijacker allowed a number of women and children to leave the aircraft soon after it had landed. The hijacker also reportedly allowed Egyptian nationals to leave the plane. Then shortly before 10am local time, all passengers except the four 'foreigners' were allowed to leave. The nationality of those still on the plane is unknown.
In a statement on Twitter, EgyptAir said there was a threat from a passenger with an explosive belt.
A spokesman for Cyprus Police said: "There is a hijack in an EgyptAir plane. The aeroplane landed at 8.50 this morning at the international airport at Larnaca." Cypriot state TV has named the hijacker as a 27-year-old Egyptian national named Ibrahim Samaha.
Egypt's civil aviation ministry is also adding more detail, saying that the flight's captain, Amr al-Gamal, reported that one of the passengers claimed to have an explosive belt and forced the aircraft to land in Cyprus.