8:30pm: Pilot negotiated destination with hijacker
Egypt's Aviation Minister is currently addressing the media (translation below):
"It was an Airbus A320. It was hijacked and we were informed that there was a passenger with a suicide belt who had asked that the plane be diverted towards either Turkey or Cyprus.
Negotiations started with the hijacker, and the agreement was that is should land at Cyprus.
There were 55 passengers from various nationalities. Copy Link
8:19pm: The latest on MS181 passengers
An Egyptian civil aviation authority spokesman told the Washington Post there were 56 people on board, including:
30 Egyptians
11 Italians
8 Americans
2 Belgians
2 Greeks
1 French
1 Syrian
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7:56pm: Cyprus president rules out terrorism
Reuters is reporting the Cypriot president Nikos Anastasiades has ruled out terrorism in the hijacking of the EgyptAir flight.
"It is not something which has to do with terrorism," Anastasiades told reporters. Al Arabiya English say no explosives were found on the plane.
The incident is looking more and more like the work of a disgruntled man driven to a drastic and distressing act by personal, rather than political motives.
