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| EgyptAir flight 181: Passenger plane lands in Cyprus after being 'hijacked' on journey from Alexandria to Cairo | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An Egyptian passenger plane has landed in Cyprus after reportedly being hijacked on its journey to Cairo. | An Egyptian passenger plane has landed in Cyprus after reportedly being hijacked on its journey to Cairo. |
| EgyptAir Flight 181 was was on a scheduled journey from Alexandria when it veered off course on Tuesday morning. | |
| Androulla Vassiliou, the Cypriot former European Commissioner for Education, wrote on Twitter that the plane landed shortly before 7am. | Androulla Vassiliou, the Cypriot former European Commissioner for Education, wrote on Twitter that the plane landed shortly before 7am. |
| “Hijacked aircraft of Egypt Air with 82 passengers landed at Larnaca airport,” she wrote. “We are anxious to learn more.” | “Hijacked aircraft of Egypt Air with 82 passengers landed at Larnaca airport,” she wrote. “We are anxious to learn more.” |
| The number of people on board was later revised to 55 by Cypriot state radio. | |
| Satellite data recorded by the Flight Aware website showed the Airbus A320 took off from Borg El Arab Airport as scheduled but lists its status as “result unknown”. | |
| The situation at the Larnaca airport was unclear but Ms Vassilou said hijackers claimed to be prepared to release some passengers. | |
| “Hijackers asked all police forces to leave the area in order to release women and children passengers,” she wrote. | |
| One Cypriot government official told the Associated Press there were suspicions a bomb is on board, while a second Cypriot official said it “seems like there's more than one hijacker”. | |
| He added there have been no demands other than that police vehicles move away from the aircraft. | |
| EgyptAir confirmed its plane, numbered MS181, had been "officially hijacked" and that it would release a statement shortly. | |
| This breaking news story will be updated shortly. | This breaking news story will be updated shortly. |
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| You can also follow @Independent on Twitter to follow the latest updates. | You can also follow @Independent on Twitter to follow the latest updates. |