An EgyptAir flight which departed from Borg El-Arab airport near Alexandria was hijacked Tuesday morning and forced to land in Larnaca airport in Cyprus, state radio and EgyptAir reported.
The flight was scheduled to land in Cairo at 7.15am. A passenger with an explosive belt threatened the pilot, Omar El-Gamal, EgyptAir tweeted on its official account.
EgyptAir also initially tweeted that 81 passengers were on board, but other news sources have placed the number of passengers at 55.
EgyptAir said that negotiations succeeded in getting the passengers off the plane, with the exception of four foreigners and the crew members.
Egyptian airport security has been under heavy scrutiny since the Russian airliner was downed in late October, killing 224 people on board.
Updates to follow
