TORONTO – Swiss police say the hijacker of an Ethiopian Airlines plane forced to land in Geneva has been arrested.
Police spokesman Jean-Philippe Brandt said that “the situation is under control” and nobody on the flight was injured.
Ethiopian Airlines flight ET-702 departed from Addis Ababa at 12:30 a.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive in Rome at 4:40 a.m.
The flight was forced to proceed to Geneva Airport, according to an Ethiopian Airlines statement.
All passengers and crew are safe at the airport, according to Ethiopian Airlines.
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Geneva Airport officials have closed the airport, while all incoming flights have been diverted.
The Ethiopian Airlines flight circled the runway several times while transmitting a hijack code, according to reports.
Cairo airport officials said the pilot of the plane, flight 702, informed the control tower at Abu Simbel in southern Egypt that his plane had been hijacked. The pilot did not ask to land in Egypt, and the plane headed for Libyan airspace, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.
Geneva airport said departures would resume at 8.15 a.m. and arrivals at 8.45 a.m.
–with files from the Associated Press
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