'Hijacker' shot dead after Bangladeshi jet makes emergency landing
The man appeared to have a pistol and explosives around his body - but it is not yet clear if they were real.
Sunday 24 February 2019 21:33, UK
A man who tried to enter the cockpit of a Bangladeshi jet has died in a shootout with soldiers after the plane was forced to make an emergency landing.
The Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Dhaka to Dubai came down in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong on Sunday evening.
The man told the pilot he had a personal issue with his wife and wanted to speak to Bangladesh's prime minister Sheikh Hasina, said officials.
Soldiers stormed the plane and shot the man after he refused to give himself up.
The suspect died before reaching the hospital.
"We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him," said Major General S M Motiur Rahman.
The man appeared to have a pistol and explosives around his body, said the head of Bangladesh's civil aviation authority, Air Vice Marshal Nayeem Hasan.
It was not immediately clear if they were real.
All passengers and most of the crew had been let off the Boeing 737 when soldiers entered the plane.
Shakil Miraj, the airline's general manager, said the pilot had taken emergency action after a crew member reported a passenger behaving suspiciously.
Mr Miraj added: "There were 142 passengers and all of them have come out from the aircraft safely."