142 Passengers Watch As Armed Hijacker Overpowered On Bangladesh Flight

Bangladesh security officials on Sunday foiled a hijacking attempt of a Dubai-bound plane, which made an emergency landing at a coastal city in the country following the incident, officials said.

Security forces, including the army and police surrounded the plane as soon as it landed in Chattogram. They then stormed the plane and detained the lone hijacker and evacuated all the 142 passengers safely, they said.

The state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG-147, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, landed at the Chattogram airport at around 5:40 pm.

Eyewitnesses said minutes after the aircraft flew from the Chattogram airport, it returned and made an emergency landing and opened the emergency exit through which the passengers disembarked immediately. The captain and the first officer of the flight also came out later.

The pilot decided to make an emergency landing after being told by a member of the cabin crew that the passenger was behaving suspiciously, leading to concerns about a possible hijack plan, an airline official told news agency Reuters.

Though the identity of the hijacker is yet to be known, according to unconfirmed reports the hijacker was a young foreigner and was carrying a handgun.

With inputs from agencies