Dubai, Feb 25: The gunman who tried to hijack a Dubai-bound flight flying from Dhaka via Chittagong died after Bangladeshi commandos stormed the plane at Chittagong airport, according to senior Bangladeshi officials.
The attacker identified as 25-year-old Mahadi, is considered to be "mentally deranged", and died after he was arrested.
Maj-Gen Motiur Rahman, General Commanding Officer of Chattogram, confirmed at a Press briefing in Dhaka on Sunday evening that the gunman is dead.
"We did not have the chance to negotiate. Our commandoes had to act swiftly. He was initially injured and later died," he told the media.
"He took an attacking position. There was no other way out," said the officer adding that the Bangladeshi Navy tried to negotiate with him.
A senior Bangladeshi official told Khaleej Times earlier that the hijacker was arrested and taken for interrogation.
"He had sustained serious injuries and died," the official said over the phone from Dhaka. However, he did not reveal the exact cause of death.
"All the passengers and the crew are safe. The hijack attempt was successfully foiled by our security personnel," he added.
The flight BG-147 was scheduled to fly from Dhaka to Dubai with 150 passengers aboard when the gunman attempted to hijack the plane.
Local media reports said the hijacker tried to take command of the cockpit, leading to an emergency landing.
The senior official in Dhaka, who does not want to be named, told Khaleej Times that a passenger alerted the crew after he found a fellow passenger carrying "a suspicious object that looked like a pistol".
"The crew alerted the pilot and as soon as the flight landed in Chittagong, our security officials were ready, and cordoned off the plane."
The Dubai-bound plane made an emergency landing at Shah Amanat International Airport at 5.15pm, according to local media reports.
All the passengers will fly to Dubai on Sunday night itself and were scheduled to land in Dubai on Monday early morning, a senior Biman Air official told Khaleej Times.
"We have already allocated a new flight and passengers will be flown tonight itself," said Dillip Kumar, regional manager of the airline.
"All the passengers are safe and they are eagerly waiting at the Chittagong lounge to fly to Dubai. They will take off at 7.15pm Bangladeshi time and land at 4.15am local time on Monday," Kumar said.
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