Hijackers surrender after hostages released

Two men who hijacked a Turkish passenger plane heading from northern Cyprus to Istanbul have surrendered to Turkish authorities after holding some crew members and passengers hostage for more than four hours.

The men claimed to be carrying a bomb and had demanded that the plane be diverted to Iran.

Tuncay Doganer, the chief executive officer of Atlas-Jet, said: “With the two hijackers having surrendered, the incident ended with no bloodshed.”

Most of the passengers had escaped from the plane from the rear exit at Antalya airport, while the hijackers were releasing the women and children.

But the hijackers held six crew and passengers for four hours, before allowing them to leave the plane and later surrendering to authorities.

The plane landed at Antalya airport after pilots said they needed to refuel.

Turkish Cypriot authorities said the two hijackers were Iranians protesting against US policies, but Turkish media said one of the hijackers was Turkish and the other was a Palestinian.