All passengers and crew have been allowed to leave a hijacked EgyptAir plane that had been forced to land in Larnaca, Cyprus.


At least nine people had remained on board following the earlier safe release of 40 passengers but now all hostages have been accounted for. Cyprus’ Foreign Ministry tweeted that the hostage situation is “over” and that the hijacker has been arrested.


Egypt’s Prime Minister has said authorities will now question the hijacker, identified by officials as Egyptian citizen Seif Eldin Mustafa, to discover his motives.


Earlier a Cypriot Foreign Office spokesperson said the hijacking was not terrorism-related. Alexandros Zenon told journalists “What we have clarified…is that it’s not about terrorism. It appears to be a person who is unstable, in an unstable psychological state and the issue is being hadled accordingly.”

The EgyptAir domestic flight was travelling from Alexandria to Cairo when it was hijacked and forced to land in Larnaca.


The hijacking occurred in Cyprus’ flight information region, which is why the plane was diverted to Larnaca.