Rebels kidnap passengers in plane hijack

A gang of hijackers seized a small Colombian airliner on a domestic flight today, before forcing it to land on a road and kidnapping several passengers.

Gonzalo Morales, a general in the country’s air force, said the hijackers were members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has been fighting the Government for 38 years.

The small twin-engined plane was flying from the provincial city of Neiva to the capital, Bogota, when it was hijacked.

There were no immediate reports about the number of passengers on board the 39-seater aircraft.