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Plane With at Least 30 Aboard Hijacked in Colombia
A gunman commandeered a passenger plane Tuesday in Colombian rebel territory with more than 30 people aboard and forced it to fly to the capital, Bogota.
Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco, the commander of the air force, said the hijacker was a leftist guerrilla. An air force officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the gunman told the control tower over the radio that he was a rebel deserter.
RCN television reported that the hijacker was demanding another plane to fly him out of the country, but officials did not immediately confirm the report.
One passenger with appendicitis was allowed to get off the plane after it landed in Bogota, the air force officer said.
As dusk fell, the cream-colored turboprop plane sat on the tarmac, where it was shown live on national television. No one approached it, but authorities were reportedly in contact with the plane via radio.
The plane belongs to Satena, a national airline, and was hijacked while it sat on the runway in San Vicente del Caguan, the largest town in a rebel enclave in southern Colombia, Velasco said.
Velasco said the hijacker was apparently a leftist guerrilla. Other reports said there were three hijackers.
The plane, a German-made Dornier, had 27 passengers and four crew members aboard, said airline spokeswoman Maria Elena Moreno.
Family members of those aboard watched horrified as the plane took off from San Vicente for destinations unknown.
Just before the hijacking, it had landed on a flight from Bogota, with a stopover in the southern city of Neiva.
The southern enclave was ceded by President Andres Pastrana to rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, two years ago to propel peace talks forward.
The government's recognition of rebel control over the Switzerland-sized zone expires Wednesday night, but it has already been renewed several times and is expected to be extended again.
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