EgyptAir hijack: Most passengers freed at Larnaca airport

Update : Most of the passengers on board a hijacked Egyptian airliner that was forced to divert to Cyprus have been freed,  the BBC reported.

EgyptAir said negotiations had resulted in the release of all those on board Flight MS181 apart from the crew and four foreign passengers.

Video from Larnaca airport has shown people leaving the plane and boarding a bus.

It was taken over after a passenger said he was wearing an explosives belt.

Flight MS181 was carrying 81 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo.

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EgyptAir hijack: Jet lands at Larnaca airport

An EgyptAir airliner has been hijacked and forced to divert to Larnaca airport on the south coast of Cyprus, the BBC reported.

Flight MS181, an Airbus A320 carrying 81 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo,was taken over after a passenger said he was wearing an explosives belt.

EgyptAir said negotiations had resulted in the release of all those on board apart from the crew and four foreign passengers.

Video from the scene shows people leaving the plane and boarding a bus.

Larnaca airport has been closed and scheduled flights diverted elsewhere.

"The pilot said that a passenger told him he had an explosives vest and forced the plane to land in Larnaca," the Egyptian civil aviation ministry said in a statement.

"The information we have so far is that it is one hijacker. The person has yet to make any demands," Cypriot foreign ministry Alexandros Zenon told French televisio