(Bloomberg) -- A passenger falsely claiming he was armed with explosives hijacked an EgyptAir plane carrying 71 other people and forced it to land in Cyprus, casting new doubts on Egypt’s ability to revive desperately needed tourism.
The hijacker, an Egyptian national, released most of the other passengers and crew before surrendering to authorities at the airport in Larnaca. None of the people aboard the plane was harmed during the seven-hour ordeal, Cypriot authorities said.
|7-hour ordeal
“It’s over,” the Foreign Ministry said on its Twitter account. Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said the hijacker wore a belt with telephone covers that looked like explosive devices but wasn’t carrying actual explosives. President Nicos Anastasiades ruled out terrorism as a motive.
Cyprus’s Rik TV said the hijacker had asked that a letter be delivered to his ex-wife, who lives in Cyprus. She was taken to the airport to speak with him, Kasoulides said.
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