A father in a wheelchair and his son hijacked a Colombian airliner, but peacefully surrendered five hours later after allowing the crew and passengers to exit the plane, authorities said.
The freed hostages told reporters the elder hijacker said he had been partially paralyzed by a police bullet during a raid on his house some 14 years ago and had unsuccessfully sought compensation.
Senator Carlos Moreno, who helped negotiate an end to the hijacking on Monday, said a 100 million peso (US$43,000) check was handed to the older hijacker, but the government would not honor it.
The Aires airliner had departed the southern city of Florencia when the two men commandeered it, said General Edgar Lesmez, the chief of the Colombian Air Force. The hijackers had managed to smuggle two grenades onto the plane, Moreno said.
The plane landed in Bogota, the flight's original destination, but at a military airfield next to the capital's civilian El Dorado Airport.
There were 20 passengers and at least four crew members aboard the plane when it was hijacked. Among them was a US citizen, said a US official in Bogota.
Also on board was Colombian Congressman Antonio Serrano, his assistant, Consuelo Barragan, told RCN television.
Shortly after landing, the hijackers allowed women passengers and two babies to exit the plane, while a Roman Catholic priest was permitted to come on board to negotiate. At least two government officials later boarded the aircraft to talk to the hijackers.
Over the next several hours while the twin-propeller plane stood on the tarmac, the remaining passengers were released. After a five-hour standoff, the two hijackers surrendered and came down from the plane. The crew members also exited the plane at the same time.
Authorities initially identified the hijackers as Luis Ramirez, about 42 years old, and his son Linsen Ramirez, about 22, but later said the elder man's name was Porfirio Ramirez.
General Alberto Ruiz, chief of operations of the Colombian National Police, said the two hijackers did not appear to belong to any of Colombia's illegal armed groups.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese