Man arrested after hijacked Air Mauritanie Boeing
737
A hijacking of an Air
Mauritanie Boeing 737 yesterday reportedly ended with
the arrest of one man at a military airfield in
Spain's Canary Islands.
Several local reports
say the Mauritanian flag carrier's aircraft was
hijacked soon after a late afternoon takeoff from the
country's capital, Nouakchott.
The incident ended in
Las Palmas, where the man is reportedly being held by
police. There were eight crew and 70 passengers
onboard, according to several news sources.
"Fortunately the
hijacking incident has ended favorably," José
Segura, a government representative in the Canary
Islands, told Radio Nacional de España
(RNE).
The hijacked Air
Mauritania 737 landed on after making a fuel stop in
the disputed Moroccan territory of Western
Sahara
(formerly Spanish
Sahara), officials in Mauritania said. The aircraft
was on an internal flight from Nouakchott to the
northern port of Nouadhibou. The hijacker requested
the aircraft continue on to Paris after its stop in
the Sahrawi city of Laayoune / El Aaiun, police told
RNE.
Feb. 16