A US man has been shot dead after hijacking a small passenger plane and injuring two passengers in the Caribbean nation of Belize.
Fourteen passengers were onboard the aircraft when the hijacker, identified as Akinyela Sawa Taylor, took control of the flight at knifepoint. Two passengers were injured, including one who was stabbed in the back.
Taylor ordered the pilot to take him out of the country, but was then shot in the chest by another passenger, Belize’s commissioner of police, Chester Williams, told local journalists.
After circling erratically over the coastline near Belize City, with depleting fuel, the passengers’ ordeal ended when the plane landed safely at Philip Goldson international airport.
Taylor was pronounced dead at a local hospital, and one of the injured passengers was in a critical condition after being stabbed in the back.
Details of the incident remained sparse, but Williams said passengers narrowly escaped a more serious tragedy as the aircraft ran out of fuel as it landed.
The plane was en route from Corozal to San Pedro when the hijacking took place. After being contacted by passengers onboard, police were deployed to various airports, unsure of where the plane would land. A rescue helicopter was also tracking the aircraft.
“We were hoping that we don’t have to move from a search-and-rescue operation to a search-and-recovery operation. The helicopter was to follow the plane to see where it would land. So if they had decided to crash-land the plane in the sea, or on one of the islands, we would have been there quickly to respond and provide assistance to those passengers who might not be able to survive,” he told reporters.
The hijacker’s motives are unclear, but Williams said Taylor had previously been refused entry into Belize, and it was not clear how he was able to get through its borders.
Williams said there would be a review of security procedures for domestic flights.
A spokesperson for the US embassy told reporters that it was working with Belize to investigate the incident. “We share that commitment with them to make sure that Belize is safe, the airlines are safe, the tourists coming here are safe, borders are safe and secure,” he said.
