NIKOSIA, March 29. /TASS/. According to AFP, five more hostages have been released from the hijacked EgyptAir plane.
EgyptAir said there were 81 passengers on board the hijacked plane en route from Alexandria to Cairo. The Al Arabiya TV channel reported that 21 foreign citizens were among the passengers of the plane, including US and British citizens.
The EgyptAir domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked by Egyptian national Ibrahim Samaha, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported earlier. The hijacker planned to fly to Turkey but the plane landed in Cyprus due to the lack of fuel, the report said. Al Ahram said the hijacker is a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria University.