DATE=12/24/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAK / PLANE HIJACKING (L)
NUMBER=2-257468
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A hijacked Indian airliner with at least 178 people
aboard has landed in the Pakistani city of Lahore after
leaving India. Negotiations are reportedly under way
between officials and the hijackers, who have requested
that the plane be re-fueled. Newswire reports say the
hijackers have killed four passengers on the plane but, as
VOA correspondent Scott Anger reports, there is little
information coming out on the fate of the hostages.
TEXT: Heavily armed security forces have surrounded the
Indian Airlines plane parked on the main runway in Lahore,
Pakistan. Fire brigades and ambulances are standing by.
There is no immediate word on who the hijackers are or what
their demands may be.
Pakistan's official news agency says the lights of the
airport had been turned off but the passenger plane, which
had little fuel left, landed on the darkened runway.
State-run television says the plane had been allowed to
land to save the lives of the passengers.
The plane was hijacked after taking off from Katmandu,
Nepal by unidentified gunmen. The hijackers had requested
permission to land in Pakistan after taking control of the
plane. But aviation authorities in Pakistan denied landing
rights to the airliner, forcing it to land in India first.
After a brief 40-minute stopover in Amritsar, India, the
airliner took off unexpectedly and landed minutes later -
just across the border - in Lahore.
Pakistan's military has taken control of the international
airport where a crisis control room has been set up to
negotiate with the hijackers. (SIGNED)
NEB/SA/JBM
24-Dec-1999 11:55 AM EDT (24-Dec-1999 1655 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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