4 crew, 3 passengers still on board hijacked EgyptAir plane: minister
Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister, Sherif Fathy, holds a press conference on the hijacked EgyptAir flight which was diverted to Cyrus, on March 29, 2016, in Cairo. A hijacker seized an Egyptian airliner and forced it to land in Cyprus, but nearly all of the passengers were quickly released and officials said the incident was not linked to terrorism. AFP PHOTO | MOHAMED EL-SHAHED
Everyone on board a hijacked EgyptAir flight diverted to Cyrus on Tuesday has been released except for four crew members and three passengers, Egypt's civil aviation minister said.
Sherif Fathy told a press conference that the captain, a co-pilot, an air hostess and a security man remained on board, along with the three passengers.
He said there had been 55 passengers on board the plane, which was headed from Alexandria to Cairo, when the hijacker demanded it land in either Turkey or Cyprus.
The aviation ministry had earlier said 81 people were on board.
"He had no gun or anything. We don't know yet whether his (explosives) belt is real but for the safety of passengers we are dealing with it as real," he said.
A plane will head to Larnaca at 1030 GMT to pick up the released passengers, he said.
