[Updated] Egypt Air Plane hijacked: Hijacker arrested

Hijacker of the EgyptAir plane that was diverted to Cyprus has been arrested.

Live Updates

13:05
Plane hijacking suspect to be question ‘to ascertain his true motives’.

“At some moments he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union and at other points he asked to go to another airport but there was nothing specific,” Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said.

13:02
Crew and passengers freed and safe.

All passengers and crew are safe

— NikosChristodoulides (@Christodulides) March 29, 2016

13:00
Cyprus government spokesman confirms arrest on twitter.

The hijacker has just been arrested.

— NikosChristodoulides (@Christodulides) March 29, 2016

EgyptAir africanews flickr embed code

12:00
At least 4 more people seen leaving EgyptAir hijacked plane- AFP
Many passengers have been freed but negotiations to release more are still ongoing.

11:38
Cyprus Foreign Ministry identifies hijacker as Seif Eldin Mustafa.

The #hijacker of #MS181 is Seif Eldin Mustafa. The situation is still ongoing.

— Cyprus MFA (@CyprusMFA) March 29, 2016

[Live] #EgyptAir hijacker alleged “he was wearing explosive belt” & “demanded to go to Turkey” https://t.co/5URxKSzOrj

— euronews (@euronews) March 29, 2016

11:33
Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister declines to give the identity of the hijacker and passengers left on board the aircraft.

10:25
7 people left on board the EgyptAir hijacked plane,including 3 passengers. Stranded passengers to be airlifted- Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister.

10:00
Egyptian Civil Aviation Authorities to hold press conference shortly.

#BREAKING Hijacked EgyptAir plane carried 21 foreigners including 8 Americans: aviation ministry

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 29, 2016

Terrorism ruled out
“It is not something which has to do with terrorism,” Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters.

9:45
4 -5 more passengers seen leaving the hijacked EgyptAir plane. It is not yet clear how many people are left on board the aircraft. Reuters

Egypt TV posted picture of hijacker Ibrahim Samaha before he went aboard the flight pic.twitter.com/uSA63VDU3x

— africanews (@africanews) March 29, 2016

9:30 EgyptAir hijacker is a professor of veterinary medicine at the Alexandria University- University website Reuters

9:20
“It looks like at least 49 of the passengers have been freed.That is all I have to say,” Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is quoted by Reuters news agency.

9:15
AFP reports witnesses said the hijacker threw a letter written in Arabic, asking for it to be delivered to his ex-wife who is from Cyprus.

9:00
EgyptAir hijacker is seeking asylum in Cyprus – state media reports.

08:54
Larnaca Airport closed, flights diverted.

8:50

#EgyptAir Update Cypriot state television identifies #Egyptair flight #MS181 hijacker as Ibrahim Samaha (SkyNews )

— africanews (africanews) March 29, 2016

Live pictures of passengers released

[Live] Hijacked #EgyptAir flight: 4 passengers & crew remain on plane – aviation officials https://t.co/19MB6MKzR8 https://t.co/Up84T1GqXe

— euronews (@euronews) March 29, 2016

8:33
Between 15 to 20 people left on board hijacked Egypt Airplane- Cyprus Foreign Ministry

8:30
Cyprus Foreign Ministry officials cannot confirm if hijacker is trapped with explosives.

8:20
“The negotiations with the hijacker have resulted in the release of all the plane passengers with the exception of the crew and five foreigners,“ 
the airline said in a statement. Reuters

Negotiations with the kidnapped result in the release of all the passengers, except the crew and four foreigners.

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) March 29, 2016

8:10
Egyptian passengers released (public TV reports)

Track Air Traffic tweets about hijacking

Egyptair flight #MS181 took off from Alexandria Airport 04.36 UTC and landed at Larnaca Airport 05.46 UTC time pic.twitter.com/xCDBfwFJ9u

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 29, 2016

While in coverage, we did not receive a squawk 7500 signal from #MS181. https://t.co/ZAfjZmVBSJ pic.twitter.com/eNcDWEJswl

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 29, 2016

8:00
A passenger with a suicide belt threatened the pilot of a hijacked EgyptAir plane that was diverted to Cyprus on Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said pilot Omar al-Gammal had informed authorities that he was threatened by a passenger who possessed a suicide belt and forced him to land in Larnaca. Reuters

An EgyptAir domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked on Tuesday and landed in Cyprus, state radio said.

Civil aviation and police sources say the plane was hijacked by one person. A passenger threatened to blow his belt.

Egypt Air confirmed the hijack on its twitter account.

Our flight MS181 is officially hijacked. we'll publish an official statement now. #Egyptair

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) March 29, 2016

The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation reported that 55 people were on board, with a crew of 7.
 There were earlier reports of about 80 to 81 people on board.

At least one man was thought to be armed. The hijacking occurred in Cyprus’s flight information region and the airliner was diverted to Larnaca.

The hijackers contacted the control tower at 8:30 (05:30 GMT) and the domestic flight from Alexandria was allowed to land at 8:50, according to police.

The hijacker has not made any requests yet.