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Lithuania says Ryanair plane landed in Minsk due to conflict onboard

Former editor-in-chief of the Nexta Telegram channel, which had been recognized as extremist in Belarus, Romat Protasevich was among the passengers, he was detained

Minsk National Airport Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

Minsk National Airport

© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

VILNIUS, May 23. /TASS/. The Ryanair passenger plane flying from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing in Minsk because of a conflict between a passenger and one of the crewmembers, Lina Beisiene, a spokeswoman for Lietuvos oro uostai the operator of Lithuanian airports, said on Sunday.

She said that Lithuanian civil aviation authorities had no information about any bombs planed onboard the plane.

"We don’t have such information," she told the national LRT television channel. "There was a conflict between a passenger and a crewmember. It was decided to land the plane in Minsk," she said, giving no further details.

The Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at Minsk’s airport after the pilots had reported a bomb threat.

It was reported after the plane’s landing that former editor-in-chief of the Nexta Telegram channel, which had been recognized as extremist in Belarus, Romat Protasevich was among the passengers. The man was detained.

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