A man with two hand grenades is holding an airliner with 46 passengers hostage at Havana's international airport and is demanding he be flown to Miami.
The airliner was en route from Nueva Gerona to Havana when the hijacker ordered the crew to head for Miami but had to land at Jose Marti International Airport because it had insufficient fuel, officials said.
The airliner is parked on the tarmac as authorities "do their utmost to seek a solution that ensures the safety and lives of the passengers," the statement added.
The plane was hijacked at around 9.30 p.m. (1.30 a.m. Irish time) after taking off from the Island of Youth some 90 miles south of the capital.
It was the second hijacking in Cuba in less than a month. On March 9th, another Cuban airliner, also flying out of the Island of Youth, was hijacked by six men with knives and told to fly to Florida.
The plane was forced to land by US warplanes in Key West, Florida.
AFP
