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There were some 200 people on board the plane hijacked

17 February 2014 Last updated at 08:16 GMT

Swiss confirm Ethiopian plane hijack

An Ethiopian Airlines plane en route from Addis Ababa to Rome has been forced to land in Geneva after being hijacked, Swiss police say.

One hijacker has been arrested. The airline said in a statement that all passengers and crew were safe.

There are no injuries, and the police say the situation is "under control".

Flight 702 was scheduled to leave Addis Ababa at 00:30 local time (21:30 GMT), and arrive in Rome at 04:40 local time. Geneva airport has now reopened.

Geneva airport said departures would resume at 08:15 (07:15 GMT) and arrivals at 08:45 (07:45 GMT).

A recording of one of the pilots appears to show him requesting asylum in an exchange with Geneva air traffic control.

Geneva police confirmed the plane - a Boeing 767-300 - had made an unscheduled landing in the Swiss city at 06:00.

The flight was hijacked as it was flying over Sudan, reports the Tribune de Geneve newspaper.



In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines said Flight 702 "on scheduled service departing from Addis Ababa at 00:30 (local time) scheduled to arrive in Rome at 04:40 (local time) was forced to proceed to Geneva airport".

"Accordingly, the flight has landed safely at Geneva airport. All passengers and crew are safe at Geneva airport," it added in the statement.

All 200 passengers and crew on board the plane were in good health, the company said,

Passengers came out of the aircraft at about 08:00 (local time) while surrounded by dozens of police, the Tribune de Geneve reports.