A Protestant priest who hijacked a Mexican plane mid-air with 104 people on board, triggering a brief airport drama, claimed he was on a divine mission, officials said.
Jose Mar Flores Pereira, 44, was said by Mexican officials to have hijacked the Aeromexico Boeing 737 after it left from the popular tourist resort of Cancun on a flight to the capital.
All the passengers — most of whom had no idea they had allegedly been taken hostage — were safely evacuated in Mexico City as security forces swarmed the capital’s international airport within minutes of the plane landing.
PHOTO: EPA
The airline said it was originally alerted to the situation after it “received a bomb threat while in flight,” according to a statement.
Initial media reports involving multiple hijackers carrying explosives were later denied by Mexican Transport Secretary Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas, who confirmed there was no bomb found on the plane.
While Flores Pereira acted alone, Mexican officials said they originally arrested five other people following the alleged hijacker’s indication he was acting with accomplices, referring to “himself [the Father], the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
After being taken into custody, Flores Pereira told authorities he had wanted to protect the country after he “had a revelation that Mexico was facing a great danger, and was threatened by an earthquake,” public security official Genaro Garcia Luna told reporters.
The priest, brought out for questioning by the media, told reporters his act was linked to Wednesday’s date — Sept. 9, 2009 — because the numbers 9/9/9 were the “opposite” of 6/6/6, the numbers associated with the Antichrist.
Flores Pereira had demanded to fly over the airport “seven times” and to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Garcia Luna said. Calderon canceled his afternoon meetings to head to the sprawling airport.
The alleged hijacker was also said to be a former prisoner and drug addict from Bolivia, who has lived in Mexico for 17 years.
Thirty foreigners were among the passengers, according to diplomatic sources: 18 Americans, five Canadians, three French, three Bolivians, two Spaniards and a German.
“We only learned about it when we landed and we informed by the crew over the radio that we had been hijacked,” passenger Rodrigo Padilla said. “Everything was very quiet, there were no guns, no shots were fired.”
In less than an hour, the drama had been brought to an end.
“We intervened in this crisis and all the passengers were taken to safety. The security forces are now carrying out the necessary investigations,” Horcasitas said.
The hijacker had been unable to enter the plane’s cockpit during the flight and did not compromise the aircraft’s safety, Horcasitas said.
The passengers were briefly made to sit on the tarmac by security forces, before being led away. The last to leave the plane was the captain, who had negotiated the release of the passengers with a woman air controller.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”
RSS