Hijacked Libyan Plane Lands in Malta With 118 People Onboard

Valletta: An airliner on an internal flight in Libya was hijacked and diverted to Malta where it landed on Friday, Maltese media reported.

Two hijackers had threatened to blow up the Airbus A320, which had 118 people aboard, outlets including the Times of Malta said. The aircraft had been flying from Sebha in southwest Libya to Tripoli for state-owned Afriqiyah Airways.

The hijackers said that they will release all the 118 passengers if their demands are met, Maltese media reported. But there is no clarity yet on what are the demands of the duo who are being described as militants loyal to slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

“The hijackers claim they are in possession of a hand grenade. The airport and the plane are surrounded by cops,” a journalist from Times of Malta told CNN-News18, but he said there was no clarity yet on what the demands of the hijackers were.

A Libyan security official told Reuters that the pilot told Tripoli Airport Control before communications were lost that the pilot tried to Land in Libya but the hijackers refused.

The aircraft had been flying from Sebha in southwest Libya to Tripoli for state-owned Afriqiyah Airways. The tiny Mediterranean island of Malta is about 500 km (300 miles) north of the Libyan coast.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted: "Informed of potential hijack situation of a #Libya internal flight diverted to #Malta. Security and emergency operations standing by -JM"

(With inputs from Reuters)