What do we know so far about the hijacked EgyptAir plane
Date
3/29/2016 6:09:52 AM
CAIRO: The latest on the hijacked EgyptAir plane that has landed in Larnaca in Cyprus:
* Egypt sending another plane to Cyprus to pick stranded passengers.
* Four crew 3 passengers still on board hijacked EgyptAir plane says aviation minister
* Aviation ministerSherif Fathy says the captain an assistant an air hostess and a security man remained on board along with the three passengers.
* EgyptAir hijacker is an Egyptian-American dual citizen named Ibrahim Samaha Egyptian official says.
* Atleast five more released with onlookers reporting that the five appeared to be wearing crew uniforms.
* Hijacked EgyptAir plane carried 21 foreigners including 8 Americans: aviation ministry.
* EgyptAir hijacker reported to be 27-year-old Egyptian national Ibrahim Samaha is a professor of Veterinary medicine at Alexandria University.
* State Radio reported thatEgyptAir hijacker demands asylum in Cyprus.
* Cyprus closes Larnaca airport after hijacking flights diverted to Paphos.
* Egyptian State News Agency reports that the hijacker is an Egyptian national.
*EgyptAir said negotiations had resulted in the release of all passengers on the hijacked Egyptian plane except for four foreigners and the crew.
* Egypt's aviation authority says the hijacker of the Egyptian airplane forced to fly to Cyprus has claimed to have an explosives belt on him.This is a according to a statement from the authority on Tuesday. The explosives would suggest that the hijacker is an Islamic militant. Suicide belts have been a weapon of choice for Islamic militants in the MidEast.
* The plane landed in Larnaca in Cyprus after which the hijackers allowed some women and children to leave.
* Egypt's civil aviation authority says an EgyptAir plane has been hijacked while flying from the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria to the capital Cairo.
* A Cypriot government official says the hijacked plane landed on Tuesday morning at the airport in Larnaka and that there are suspicions of a bomb on board.
* A second Cypriot official says there "seems like there's more than one hijacker." He says there have been no demands other than that police vehicles move away from the aircraft.Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.
* The statement from the Egyptian aviation authority says the MS181 is an Airbus and that it has 55 passengers on board and five crew members.
Agencies