The Egyptian Airliner twitter account tweeted early Tuesday morning that it Airliner has been Hijacked by an unidentified gunman straps with explosives.
An unknown hijacker seized an Egyptian airliner early Tuesday morning and diverted the plane to Cyprus, landing it at Larnaca airport on the south coast.
The unidentified hijacker contacted the control tower at 8:30 am (0530 GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at 8:50 am.
Sources from the Egyptian government says the hijacker is armed and has explosives on himself. The domestic flight MS181 had been travelling from Alexandria to Cairo.
The Cypriot state broadcaster reported that the armed hijacker was threatening to detonate explosives strapped to his body and police were told to move away from the jet.
The hijacker has made no immediate demands but Egyptian passengers were allowed to leave the plane shortly after landing in Cyprus. A crisis team has been deployed to the airport.
There were 81 passengers and seven crew members on board prior to the undisclosed number of Egyptians disembarked, according to Cypriot airport officials.
EgyptAir confirmed the hijacking on Twitter.
An unknown hijacker seized an Egyptian airliner early Tuesday morning and diverted the plane to Cyprus, landing it at Larnaca airport on the south coast.
The unidentified hijacker contacted the control tower at 8:30 am (0530 GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at 8:50 am.
Sources from the Egyptian government says the hijacker is armed and has explosives on himself. The domestic flight MS181 had been travelling from Alexandria to Cairo.
The Cypriot state broadcaster reported that the armed hijacker was threatening to detonate explosives strapped to his body and police were told to move away from the jet.
The hijacker has made no immediate demands but Egyptian passengers were allowed to leave the plane shortly after landing in Cyprus. A crisis team has been deployed to the airport.
There were 81 passengers and seven crew members on board prior to the undisclosed number of Egyptians disembarked, according to Cypriot airport officials.
EgyptAir confirmed the hijacking on Twitter.
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