BREAKING! Egyptian plane with 80 people aboard hijacked, forced to land in Cyprus

An EgyptAir plane with about 60 people on board has been reportedly hijacked while flying from Alexandria to Cairo on Tuesday.

The Airbus A320, according to Huffington Post, was forced to land at Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus.

According to a statement from the Egyptian aviation authority, there are 55 passengers on board and five crew members but earlier media reports put the number as high as 80.

Reuters reports that one man was thought to be armed while a Cypriot official told the Associated Press that the hijacker demanded that police move away from the aircraft.

A tweet by the airline informed that the incident was real:

Our flight MS181 is officially hijacked. we’ll publish an official statement now. #Egyptair

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) March 29, 2016

According to CNN reports, the pilot says one of the passenger has a suicide explosive with him, panic heightened in Cyprus.

The airline also confirmed the latest development, confirming that about 81 persons are aboard the hijacked plane.

Tweets by the airline indicating details of the incident.

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