News Article(permalink)
German airline Lufthansa said it suspended the departure of a flight from Minsk to Frankfurt on Monday after it received a "security warning", one day after a forced landing over Belarus. "We are following the directions of the local authorities who are searching the plane again before departure and carrying out security checks again on passengers," an airline spokesman said. Lufthansa said all luggage and freight had been removed from the aircraft, in which there were 51 people including five crew members. "We regret the inconvenience for the passengers but the security of our passengers, crew and the plane take top priority at Lufthansa," the spokesman said. Soon after Lufthansa released its statement, Minsk airport said on its Telegram channel that "all necessary measures" to check the plane and its passengers had been completed. "The information about a terror attack, that was received on the airport's email, wasn't substantiated," it said. "The plane is being readied for take-off, luggage is being loaded, boarding has been announced for Lufthansa flight LH1487 Minsk-Frankfurt." The security alert came one day after a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying dissident journalist Roman Protasevich was diverted while in Belarusian airspace over a supposed bomb threat. Accompanied by a Belarusian fighter jet on the orders of strongman Alexander Lukashenko, the plane landed in Minsk where Protasevich, a 26-year-old who had been living in Lithuania, was arrested along with his Russian girlfriend. dlc/dl
Author:
Factors
Political Leaning
Emotion
Sentiment
Date published
2021-05-24

