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EgyptAir plane hijack

All passengers of hijacked plane freed except for crew and 4 people — EgyptAir

There were 81 passengers on board the hijacked plane en route from Alexandria to Cairo

© AP Photo/Petros Karadjias

CAIRO, March 29. /TASS/. All passengers of the hijacked EgyptAir plane have been freed, except for crewmembers and four people, the airline said on Tuesday.

According to Egypt’s Ministry of civil aviation, 81 people were onboard the hijacked plane en route from Alexandria to Cairo that landed at Larnaca airport. Around 30 of them are Egyptian nationals, one Syrian citizens. The citizenship of others is being clarified.

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EgypAir said there were 81 passengers on board the hijacked plane en route from Alexandria to Cairo.

The Al Arabiya TV channel reported that 10 American and 8 British nationals were among the passengers. Some 30 passengers are Egyptian citizens, the Al-Youm Al-Sabaa news portal said.

The Al Bawaba news portal reported that a terrorist wearing a suicide belt has hijacked the plane. The hijacker threatened the pilot and forced him to divert the plane to Larnaca, Cyprus.

The plane landed at the Larnaca airport at 8.50 a.m. Moscow time (0550GMT). Between 62 and 81 people are onboard the aircraft, according to various reports.

Russia’s embassy in Cyprus said talks are underway with the hijacker.

"According to the embassy’s information, talks are now held with the hijacker so that he agrees to free women and children," the embassy said, adding that no Russians are onboard the plane.

First picture of hijacked #Egyptair plane at Larcana airport via @airlivenet pic.twitter.com/INkIdYbyYF

— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) 29 марта 2016 г.

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