Aircraft Hijacked at Dhaka
Aircraft Hijacked : A Biman which is a Bangladesh Airlines plane has made an emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong after a gunman hijacked it. This flight was bound for Dubai.
According to witnesses and airport officials, Flight BG-147, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chittagong, landed at the airport around 5:40pm on Sunday as aircraft hijacked.
An airport official, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that a gunman tried to take command of the cockpit after the plane took off from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and forced the pilot to land at the Chittagong official.
Police, Rapid Action Battalion and Armed Police Battalion cordoned off the area and have the plane surrounded on the runway. Operational activities at the airport was also suspended.
Media reports said that all the passengers got off the plane after it landed, but the gunman and two crew members were still on it.
Aircraft Hijacked
Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Mohibul Haque also told UNB over phone that all passengers were evacuated from the aircraft, and a crew member was talking to the suspected hijacker.
Aircraft hijacked :Meanwhile, Chittagong 8 MP and leader of a Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction Moin Uddin Khan Badal, who was also on the flight, told that the hijacker had opened fire.
“He fired a shot. When the pilot pursued him, he said he wanted to talk to the prime minister,” Badal said.
A witness also said that they heard a gunshot when the pilots tried to stop the armed hijacker from entering the cockpit. The hijacker then claimed he was wearing a suicide vest and demanded a direct line of communication with the prime minister and senior government officials.
Mohibul said they were yet to confirm whether anyone was shot on the plane.