In a shocking incident, a man strapped with an explosive belt on his waist, hijacked the EgyptAir MS 181 flight which was on its way from Alexandria to Cairo in Egypt and diverted it to the Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. The hijacker has been identified as an Egyptian national named Ibrahim Samaha.
The flight was carrying 10 Americans, 8 Britons, 33 Egyptians and 3 Egyptian airport crew, along with 5 cabin crew. Officials claimed that there was no terrorism angle to the hijack and that the hijacker may have personal motives.
Negotiations were held with the hijacker and he freed all the passengers except 5 foreigners and the cabin crew. The hijacker is a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria University.
Preliminary witnesses revealed that the hijacker dropped a letter written in Arabic on the apron of the airport in Larnaca and asked the security officials to deliver it to his ex-wife, who is Cypriot, Cyprus. The hijacker wants asylum in Cyprus and wanted to have a word with his ex-wife, who is on her way to the hijacked site to assist the authorities in negotiations.
