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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/29/hijacked-egyptair-passenger-plane-lands-in-cyprus-reports
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| EgyptAir flight MS181 hijacker 'wants to contact ex-wife' | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| An EgyptAir plane flying from the coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo has been hijacked and rerouted to Larnaca airport in Cyprus. | |
| Flight MS181 had 81 passengers on board when it was seized, Egypt’s civil aviation authority said. The airline released a statement saying everyone on board had been released except for the crew and four foreign nationals. | |
| Related: EgyptAir 'hijack': plane from Alexandria to Cairo lands in Cyprus – live | Related: EgyptAir 'hijack': plane from Alexandria to Cairo lands in Cyprus – live |
| The hijacker was described in Cypriot media as a Lebanese national who has demanded that he speak with a Cypriot woman, called Marina Parashkou, to whom he claims he was once married. She is now being brought to the airport to participate in the negotiations. | |
| Egyptian authorities said he had threatened to detonate an explosives belt. | |
| Addressing reporters with the visiting European parliament president, Martin Schulz, the Cypriot leader, Nikos Anastasiades, ruled out terrorism, confirming instead that it had been instigated a man bent on reuniting with his former wife. | |
| “It’s all to do with a woman,” said the Cypriot president. “We are doing everything to release the hostages.” | |
| Cyprus police said the control tower was contacted at 8.30am (05.30am GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at 8.50am. | Cyprus police said the control tower was contacted at 8.30am (05.30am GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at 8.50am. |
| Airport security sources told Reuters eight Britons and 10 Americans were on the flight. | Airport security sources told Reuters eight Britons and 10 Americans were on the flight. |
| The plane was hijacked 30 minutes into its flight, according to officials. Less than an hour later, local TV showed about 40 women and children being allowed to leave the aircraft. The freed passengers were then put on buses and taken to terminal buildings. | |
| Cyprus, the nearest EU member state to the Middle East, immediately declared a state of emergency, with the ministers of defence, foreign affairs and transport all being dispatched to the airport within minutes of the plane making its forced landing. | |
| We are following reports that #MS181 has been hijacked. The aircraft has landed in Larnaca. https://t.co/ZAfjZmVBSJ pic.twitter.com/fNWiiaYZtQ | We are following reports that #MS181 has been hijacked. The aircraft has landed in Larnaca. https://t.co/ZAfjZmVBSJ pic.twitter.com/fNWiiaYZtQ |
| Airport authorities said all scheduled flights into Cyprus were being diverted to the island’s second international airport at Paphos. | |
| The hijacking is likely to bring to the fore again the question of security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula minutes after it took off from Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft and the extremist Islamic State group said it downed the plane. | The hijacking is likely to bring to the fore again the question of security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula minutes after it took off from Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft and the extremist Islamic State group said it downed the plane. |