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.
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