EgyptAir hijack: most passengers freed, 5 passengers and crew still hostage

  • 8 years ago
An EgyptAir plane with 81 passengers on board on its way to Alexandria from Cairo was highjacked Tuesday morning and landed in Larnaca, Cyprus.
A spokeswoman for the airline said the hijacker demanded EgyptAir flight 181 to land in Cyprus.
There is at least one armed highjacker and there is a suspicion that he has an explosives belt, according to a Cyrus radio station.
At about 10am the highjacker released most of the passengers.
He retained the crew members and five foreign citizens as hostages.
A Cypriot official told The Associated Press that the hijacker did not make any demands except to keep police cars away from the plane.