- EgyptAir confirms its plane was hijacked en route from Alexandria to Cairo
- Airbus A320 carrying 56 passengers lands after request by pilots at Larnaca airport in Cyprus
- Airline says at least one hijacker involved ‘in possession of suicide vest’
- Negotiations with police lead to release of all on board except for four foreigners and the crew
- Cypriot officials say hijackers initially offered to let women and children go
- Hijacker identified in unconfirmed reports as possible Egyptian national Ibrahim Samaha
- Eyewitness reports suggest people have started disembarking the plane
- Negotiations ongoing but hijacker said to be yet to make demands
- The EgyptAir Flight MS181 hijacker is an Egyptian-American dual citizen named Ibrahim Samaha, Egyptian presidential spokesman tells CNN. He hijacked the plane over his ex-wife, not terrorism, Cyprus official says. – CNN Update
- The spokesman for the Egyptian presidency tells CNN the correct name for the EgyptAir Flight 181 hijacker is Seif El Din Mustafa, an Egyptian national. Earlier, the same spokesman said an Egyptian-American dual citizen was responsible. – CNN Update
- The EgyptAir hijacker is in police custody, according to the director of the Cypriot foreign ministry crisis center. – CNN Update
EgyptAir Flight 181 was was on a scheduled journey from Alexandria when it veered off course on Tuesday morning.
Androulla Vassiliou, the Cypriot former European Commissioner for Education, wrote on Twitter that the plane landed shortly before 7am.
Satellite data recorded by the Flight Aware website showed the Airbus A320 took off from Borg El Arab Airport as scheduled.
EgyptAir confirmed its plane, numbered MS181, had been “officially hijacked”.
