Officials Say Egyptian Plane Hijacked, Lands in Cyprus

An EgyptAir plane was hijacked on Tuesday while flying from the Egyptian Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to the capital, Cairo, and later landed in Cyprus where some of the women and children were allowed to get off the aircraft.

The Airbus flight number MS181 had 81 passengers on board and was flying on a regular route when the hijacking took place, Egyptian officials said. It was not immediately clear if one or more hijackers were involved.

Details were sketchy and the motives and identities of the hijacker or hjackers were also not known, the Associated Press reports.