On Tuesday an Egyptian man named Seif El Din Mustafa hijacked an EgyptAir plane en route from Alexandria to Cairo wearing what appeared to be a suicide vest. Due to the disturbance the flight was re-routed to Cairo where a 6 hour standoff occurred with authorities.
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Mustafa was the one who made the demands to reroute to Cyprus in order to see his Cypriot ex-wife. When the plane landed and snipers surrounded the aircraft, things got weird. According to the Daily Mail:
During the hostage situation on the tarmac, Mustafa made a series of erratic requests, including asking to meet with representatives of the European Union, and to be taken to other airports.
A picture from the tarmac shows the moment the attacker hands over a four-page letter intended for his ex-wife, as a female airport official stands with her head in her hands.
While initially not making any demands beyond his ex-wife and asylum, the hijacker reportedly asked for the release of female prisoners in Egypt, the Cyprus state broadcaster reported.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters the incident appeared to be motivated by personal reasons and ‘is not terrorism-related’
Asked about reports that the hijacker had demanded to see a Cypriot woman, Anastasiades laughed and said: ‘Always there is a woman.’
Here is a image of Mustafa handing off a letter to his ex-lover and another of passengers fleeing the plane:
Once Mustafa was arrested, authorities realized the “suicide vest” was in fact, fake. After the whole ordeal, one Egyptian Foreign Minister hit the nail on the head when he said: “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is.”
However the most amazing thing to come out of this scary situation was the epic selfie taken by a 26 year old British Health & Safety auditor named Ben Innes. For reasons unknown, this young man never panicked and walked up to the supposed suicide bomber to pose for a picture that he then sent to his buddies back home. Check it out:
The Daily Mail spoke to one of his roommates who said:
“I have no idea why he took the selfie but I imagine he probably volunteered to take it as he’s no afraid to shy away from anything. I find it pretty mental but that’s just Ben I guess!”
Would you have the guts to try this? Sound off in the comments below!
