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EgyptAir plane 'lands in Uzbekistan after bomb threat' | EgyptAir plane 'lands in Uzbekistan after bomb threat' |
(35 minutes later) | |
An EgyptAir plane flying from Cairo to Beijing has been forced to make an emergency landing in Uzbekistan due to a bomb threat, Uzbekistan Airways says. | An EgyptAir plane flying from Cairo to Beijing has been forced to make an emergency landing in Uzbekistan due to a bomb threat, Uzbekistan Airways says. |
All 118 passengers and 17 crew on board the Airbus A330-220 were evacuated at Urgench International Airport, in the east of the country, a statement said. | |
The aircraft was being searched by local authorities, it added. | The aircraft was being searched by local authorities, it added. |
Last month, an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. | Last month, an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. |
The cause of the crash remains a mystery, although French investigators said a week ago that signals from one of the plane's black boxes had been detected. | |
There has so far been no comment from EgyptAir on Wednesday's incident. | There has so far been no comment from EgyptAir on Wednesday's incident. |
But unnamed Egyptian officials told the Associated Press news agency that an anonymous caller had telephoned security agents at Cairo's airport to say a bomb was on board the flight to Beijing. | |
The agents immediately contacted the aircraft and told it to land at the nearest airport, they said. | |
It eventually touched down at Urgench, about 840km (600 miles) west of the Uzbek capital Tashkent, at about 23:30 local time (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday, three hours after it took off from Cairo, AP reported. | |
An Egyptian aviation source told Reuters news agency that no explosives had been found by Uzbek security forces and that the plane was "preparing to resume its journey". |