An EgyptAir airliner was hijacked Tuesday morning and forced to land in southern Cyprus, officials said.

Flight MS181 landed at Larnaca airport at 8.50 a.m. local time (0550GMT), police spokesman Andreas Angelides said, according to the Cyprus Mail website.

Angelides said an armed hijacker seized the aircraft, identified as an Airbus A320, at around 8.30 a.m. local time after take-off from Alexandria en route to Cairo. The airline said 81 people were on the flight while the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) reported 55 passengers and seven crew on the plane.

“Our flight MS181 is officially hijacked”, EgyptAir tweeted.

CyBC later reported that passengers had been released and were being moved by bus. EgyptAir said the crew and five foreign passengers were still being held.

There were also reports that the hijacker had threatened the crew with explosives and the Greek Cypriot authorities said they suspected a bomb may be on board the plane (Anadolu Agency).

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