A British passenger, who was onboard the EgyptAir flight that was hijacked Tuesday by a love-torn man, explained why he decided to pose for a photo with the alleged hijacker who was strapped with what he said was an “explosive vest.”
Ben Innes was among the 72 passengers onboard Flight MS181 which took off from Bourg el-Arab airport just outside the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria en route to Cairo.
Shortly after takeoff, a 59-year-old Egyptian man claimed to have explosives and forced the flight to land in Cyprus, triggering a near six-hour standoff.
Most of hostages were released during the standoff but Innes was among the remaining four. As the standoff unfolded, Innes decided to take “the selfie of a lifetime.”
READ MORE: Cyprus court orders EgyptAir hijack suspect held for 8 days
“I’m not sure why I did it. I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity,” the 26-year-old told British tabloid The Sun.
And there Innes was, standing next to the alleged hijacker with his “explosive vest” visible, grinning from ear-to-ear.
“I figured if his bomb was real, I’d nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it,” Innes, who works as a health and safety auditor, told the tabloid.
The photo was taken by one of the remaining cabin crew and was shared by some of Innes’ friends on social media. The image quickly went viral a short time after the hostage situation ended.
“I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him,” Innes said. “He just shrugged OK so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever.”
Turns out, the vest was indeed fake and contained no explosives. The man eventually released the remaining hostages and surrendered to police.
Photo show the remaining hostages, including Innes, running towards police with their hands raised.
But, it was Innes so-called “selfie” that was splashed on newspaper front pages Wednesday morning.
Cypriot officials had described the suspect, Seif Eddin Mustafa, as “psychologically unstable” following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what officials said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt.
Following his arrest, Mustafa told police: “What’s someone supposed to do when he hasn’t seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won’t let him?”
The suspect later admitted to the hijacking and a Cyprus court ordered the man held for eight days.
–with files from The Associated Press
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