Two hijackers aboard a Libyan plane that was forced to land in Malta on Friday have threatened to blow up the aircraft with grenades, Maltese officials said.
The hijackers, who took over the Afriqiyah Airways flight with 111 passengers on board, have begun allowing passengers to leave the plane.
Latest developments
65 passengers have been released from the plane so far.
Malta’s armed forces are leading the negotiations with the hijackers.
Foreign ministry says there is no word on their demands yet.
There are seven crew members on board.
Flight was scheduled to travel from Sabha to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Television Malta showed images of the plane’s door opening and of women walking down the staircase onto the tarmac. Men followed in later groups.
“They have grenades and are threatening to blow up the plane. No words on their demands yet,” Etienne Saint John, a spokesman for Malta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told CNN.
“The foreign affairs ministry is waiting for the passenger manifest. The safety of the passengers is of the utmost importance.”
Malta’s armed forces were leading the negotiations with the hijackers, he said.
The pictures on Telvision Malta also showed security personnel surrounding the plane.
The plane was on service from Sabha, a city in southwestern Libya, to the capital, Tripoli, on the country’s northern coast.
But it landed some 350 kilometers north of Tripoli on the small island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Among the 111 passengers was one infant, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted, while the French news agency AFP said an additional seven crew members were on board.
Live tracker FlightRadar24 said the aircraft was an Airbus A320.
According to the airport’s website, several flights had been diverted to Catania-Fontanarossa Airport in Italy.
Outbound flights have been delayed.
Restive Libya
While it is unclear who might be behind the hijacking, the desert city of Sabha has been a center for political tribal violence.
Deadly clashes still erupt between tribes loyal to the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and anti-Gaddafi groups, and enmity runs deep between the Gaddadfa and Suleiman tribes, the most powerful armed factions in the region.
Gadhafi, who was a member of the Gaddadfa tribe, was ousted from power and assassinated by rebels in 2011 in the Arab Spring uprising.
Libya has struggled to install a stable government since then, and the leadership vacuum has allowed militant groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda to flourish there.