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| EGYPTAIR |
At least five more people have been released from a hijacked EgyptAir plane, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
The five, wearing what appeared to be crew uniforms, could be seen descending from the aircraft.
A hijacker seized an Egyptian airliner
on Tuesday and diverted it to Cyprus, triggering a hostage crisis at
Larnaca airport on the south coast, Cypriot police said.
Egyptian civil aviation said the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosives belt.
The hijacker contacted the control tower
at 8:30 am (0530 GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at
8:50 am, Cyprus police said.
A crisis team was deployed to the airport, the main entry point for tourists to the Mediterranean resort island.
The hijacker made no immediate demands and later allowed Egyptian passengers to disembark, Cypriot state television reported.
The Egypt Air plane was headed from the
Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo with 81 passengers on
board when it was seized, Egyptian civil aviation said.
The airline tweeted: “Our Flight MS181 is officially hijacked, we’ll publish an official statement now.”
After negotiations with the hijacker who
commandeered the domestic flight to Larnaca airport, everyone on board
except four foreign passengers and the crew was released.
Larnaca is no stranger to hostage crises. Several hijacked planes were diverted to the airport in the 1970s and 1980s.
SOURCE: AFP
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