World

Bangladesh plane 'hijacker' killed by police was carrying toy gun

February 26, 2019 5:10 am

A passenger who took a crew member hostage and threatened to storm the cockpit on a flight from Dhaka in Bangladesh was carrying a toy gun.

The 25-year-old man was shot dead by police after an emergency landing.

All 148 passengers and crew on board Birman Airlines flight BG147 disembarked safely after the landing, in the city of Chittagong.

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Officials later said the man was “psychologically imbalanced” and had wanted to talk to the prime minister.

In an operation that lasted about 10 minutes, Bangladeshi special forces stormed the plane and shot the suspected hijacker, who has been named by local law enforcement as aspiring actor Mohammad Palash Ahmed.

It was feared that he was carrying explosives on the Dubai-bound flight, and some passengers said they saw him with a firearm.

But Chittagong police commissioner Kusum Dewan said in a statement on Monday that the suspect was carrying a toy pistol and had no explosives on him.