Man in wheelchair hijacks plane
From correspondents in Bogota
September 13, 2005
ARMED men hijacked a Colombian airplane carrying 25 people in southern Colombia, an air force source said.
The plane was hijacked by two men armed with grenades, local radio reported.
One of them is in a wheelchair, according to a passenger allowed to exit the plane.
The Aires airline plane landed in Bogota's El Dorado airport, an airport official said.
Reinaldo Duque, a congressional aide who is among the passengers, spoke to the radio station, which called him on his mobile phone. He said at least six people, all children and women, were allowed to leave the plane.
The hijackers did not identify themselves, Mr Duque said. "We are doing well. We need these people to remain calm," he said.
Police and military forces were deployed around the capital's airport, where international and national flights were cancelled.
The propeller plane had been flying between Florencia and Neiva, Martin Gonzalez, the civil aviation authority spokesman, said.
The hijackers demanded to speak with a Roman Catholic priest and a government attorney to begin negotiations, according to local television.
The hijackers are a man in a wheelchair and his son, according to one of the passengers allowed to leave the plane.
Local television identified them as 43-year-old Luis Ramirez and his son Linsen Ramirez, 23. They appear to be former members of an illegal armed group, it said.
President Alvaro Uribe, who was in Cali in the southwest, was kept informed about the hijacking.
The Colombian government has fought left-wing guerrillas in a 41-year-old conflict that has left 200,000 people dead.
About 3000 kidnappings are carried out every year by various left and right-wing groups.
In 2002, the government accused the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) of hijacking an airplane and kidnapping a senator who was aboard.
Link Here
September 13, 2005
ARMED men hijacked a Colombian airplane carrying 25 people in southern Colombia, an air force source said.
The plane was hijacked by two men armed with grenades, local radio reported.
One of them is in a wheelchair, according to a passenger allowed to exit the plane.
The Aires airline plane landed in Bogota's El Dorado airport, an airport official said.
Reinaldo Duque, a congressional aide who is among the passengers, spoke to the radio station, which called him on his mobile phone. He said at least six people, all children and women, were allowed to leave the plane.
The hijackers did not identify themselves, Mr Duque said. "We are doing well. We need these people to remain calm," he said.
Police and military forces were deployed around the capital's airport, where international and national flights were cancelled.
The propeller plane had been flying between Florencia and Neiva, Martin Gonzalez, the civil aviation authority spokesman, said.
The hijackers demanded to speak with a Roman Catholic priest and a government attorney to begin negotiations, according to local television.
The hijackers are a man in a wheelchair and his son, according to one of the passengers allowed to leave the plane.
Local television identified them as 43-year-old Luis Ramirez and his son Linsen Ramirez, 23. They appear to be former members of an illegal armed group, it said.
President Alvaro Uribe, who was in Cali in the southwest, was kept informed about the hijacking.
The Colombian government has fought left-wing guerrillas in a 41-year-old conflict that has left 200,000 people dead.
About 3000 kidnappings are carried out every year by various left and right-wing groups.
In 2002, the government accused the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) of hijacking an airplane and kidnapping a senator who was aboard.
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 4:08 PM
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