Moment EgyptAir 'hijacker' calmly walks through airport security before six-hour siege

Jamie Bullen29 March 2016

This is the moment an alleged hijacker calmly walked through airport security shortly before a dramatic six-hour siege took place on board an EgyptAir plane.

CCTV released by the Egypt Ministry of Interior shows a man as he walked through a metal detector before he was patted down at Alexandria International Airport.

He is then believed to have boarded Flight MS181 which took off from coastal city Alexandria en route to Egypt's capital Cairo.

The plane was airborne for around an hour before it was hijacked and diverted to Larnaca airport in Cypus, where it was met by armed police on the runway.

Brazen: Footage shows a man believed to be the alleged hijacker walking through airport security at Alexandria International Airport

The plane touched down in Cyprus just before 7am UK time.

Most of the 55 passengers and seven crew members were released from the plane but four crew members and three passengers remained on board the jet until shortly before 12.45pm UK time.

Live footage showed four people leaving the plane as the siege was brought to a peaceful conclusion with no-one harmed during the dramatic incident.

This image which has been shared widely on social media reportedly shows Seif Eldin Mustafa wearing his 'suicide belt' on the hijacked EgyptAir plane

An image of a suspect, named by Cypriot officials as Egyptian national Seif Eldin Mustafa, was widely circulated on social media which appeared to show him wearing a makeshift suicide belt.

However, Cypriot authorities later confirmed the man was not carrying any explosives.

Authorities said the hijacking was not an act of terrorism with reports the man wanted to see his estranged wife as part of his demands.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry described the man as an “idiot”.

In a statement it said: “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is.”

Cyprus president Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacker “seems [to be] in love”.

He said the hijacking was “not something which has to do with terrorism” and added: “It’s all to do with a woman. We are doing everything to release the hostages.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in