A flight bound for Dubai from Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, made an emergency landing Sunday in Chittagong after a man attempted to hijack the plane, officials said.
The suspect, a young Bangladeshi, asked to speak to the country's prime minister before dying from injuries sustained in an exchange of gunfire with military commandos, officials said.
The flight, operated by state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines, took off from Dhaka at 4:35 p.m. for the trip to Dubai via Chittagong. The pilot made the emergency landing in Chittagong about 40 minutes later, after a crew member reported "suspicious behavior" by the man, said Rezaul Karim, an official with the Bangladeshi military's inter-service public affairs office.
All 143 passengers and seven crew members aboard the Boeing 737-800 were safely evacuated, Air Vice Marshal Mofidur Rahman said at a news conference broadcast live on Somoy TV.
The commandos fired at the suspect after he shot at them when they asked him to surrender, army Maj. Gen. Motiur Rahman told reporters, according to ATN TV news.
The suspect appeared to be "mentally imbalanced," said Air Vice Marshal M. Naim Hassan, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. "I am saying this because of his behavior. He wanted to talk to the prime minister."
