Most of the passengers on an Egyptian airliner that was hijacked and forced to divert from Cairo to the Larnaka Airport in Cyprus were freed on Tuesday, the airline and Egyptian officials report.
EgyptAir said in a post on Twitter that negotiations had resulted in the release of all on board Flight MS181 except four foreigners and the crew members.
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority, in a statement released, identified the flight as EgyptAir 181 and said there were 55 passengers and five crew members on board.
Video footage has shown passengers walking down the stairs from the plane, an Airbus A320 and boarding a bus at the Larnaka International Airport.
In a statement, the Civil Aviation Ministry said the pilot, Omar al-Gammal, informed authorities that he was threatened by a passenger who had an explosive belt and forced him to land at the Larnaka Airport.
The EgyptAir hijacker took plane over ex-wife, not terrorism, spokesman for Cyprus Ministry of Transport tells CNN. It was reported that the hijacker was a 27-year-old Egyptian man named Ibrahim Samaha, and that he was seeking asylum and demanded to see his Cypriot ex-wife who lives on the island before negotiation could take place for the release of the remaining hostages.
Aviation security in Egypt have been under thorough inspection since a Russian airliner crashed shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh on Oct. 31, killing everyone aboard the flight.