CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) — Passengers from the hijacked Egypt Air plane returned home on Tuesday night (March 29) after their plane was forced to divert to Cyprus following a threat from a hijacker who was later arrested.
The plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt.
Neither the passengers or crew were harmed during the incident.
Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew, were on board the Airbus 320, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement. They were seen on footage aired on Egyptian television exiting the plane at Cairo International Airport and being greeted by Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.
The hijacker appeared in several photos, including a picture with a smiling Western hostage that was posted to social media sites.
“Because he kept the foreigners and this guy was so cool, he is a British guy and he asked him to take a picture and he took the picture, that’s it,” said passenger Noha Saleh.
Conflicting theories emerged about the motives of the hijacker, an Egyptian. A senior Cypriot official said he seemed unstable and the incident did not appear related to terrorism. The Cypriot state broadcaster said he had demanded the release of women prisoners in Egypt.
In the midst of the hijack, witnesses said he threw a letter on the apron at Cyprus’s Larnaca airport, written in Arabic, and asked that it be delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife.
After the aircraft landed at Larnaca, negotiations began and everyone on board was freed except three passengers and four crew, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fethy said.
Soon afterwards, Cypriot television footage showed several people leaving the plane via the stairs and another man climbing out of the cockpit window and running off.
The hijacker then surrendered to authorities.
The incident will deal another blow to Egypt’s tourism industry and hurt efforts to revive an economy hammered by political unrest following the 2011 uprising that ousted veteran ruler Hosni Mubarak
