Hijacked EgyptAir aircraft lands in Larnaca, Cyprus

The flight was from Alexandria to Cairo, when it was violently diverted. The hijacker wanted to meet his Cypriot ex-wife and to hand her a 4 page love letter. The letter instead turned out to be a list of political demands including the release of female prisoners in Egypt.

The BBC is quoting the head of Alexandria’s Borg El Arab Airport, where the flight departed, as saying the plane was carrying 30 Egyptian nationals, eight Americans, four Britons, two Belgians, one Italian and four Dutch people.

The hijacker is described in some reports as a Lebanese university professor, aged 27. The woman he names as his ex-wife is now being brought to the airport to take part in the negotiations.

An emergency landing of an Egypt air aircraft at Cyprus’ Larnaka airport was reported, after leaving Alexandria and originally travelling to Cairo. Un-verified sources say that besides 81 passengers there are also hijackers on board.

A Cypriot official told Associated Press that a suspected bomb is on board.
Cypriot state radio is reporting that 55 people are on board. Police said a crisis team was deployed to the aiport.