Passengers on Ryanair flight FR4978 described the anxious minutes for opposition blogger Roman Protasevich after he realised that the plane was being diverted to Minsk, where he was later detained. “He started panicking and saying this was because of him,” Monika Simkiene, a 40-year-old Lithuanian, told AFP after the plane finally landed in Vilnius several […]
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has joined a number of EU leaders in condemning Belarus over an act of "state terrorism" after the Eastern European country forced a Ryanair flight to land in Minsk so that a wanted opposition activist could be arrested.
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg said U.S. was extremely concerned
Said FAA and international body were probing safety of flights
Said it needs to be assessed if it s safe for Americans to fly over the country
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has led worldwide condemnation of Alexander Lukashenko after Belarusian authorities hijacked a Ryanair flight
Passenger plane was flying from Athens to Vilnius when it was forced to make emergency landing in Minsk, where journalist Roman Protasevich was arrested
The airliner was escorted to Minsk airport by a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet, which reportedly had clearance to fire, amid bogus reports of a bomb on board
The 26-year-old journalist knew exactly what was happening. “[He] took the luggage, and was trying to split things, like the computer he gave to his girlfriend,” a passenger called Mantas told Reuters.
Mantas added: “I think he made a mistake. There were plenty of people so he could give the things to me or other passengers and not the girlfriend, who was also, I think, arrested.”
The Belarusian military scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the Ryanair plane to Minsk airport, with Belarusian media reporting an apparent bomb scare. But no explosives were to be found.
Eyewitnesses saw Protasevich shaking and putting his head in his hands as he waited for the plane to land in Minsk.