A selfie between EgyptAir hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa and British passenger Ben Innes has gone viral on the Internet in a bad way, bringing out a slew of criticism of Innes.
The broadly grinning Innes soon found himself in online photos standing next to Adolf Hitler, the burning World Trade Center and other assorted atrocities.
Innes, 26, one of three passengers who was held hostage until the end of the hijacking in Cyprus on Tuesday, was photographed smiling and standing next to Mustafa in the cabin of the Airbus 320, reported the British tabloid the
Sun
In the photo with Innes, Mustafa was still wearing the belt that he claimed to be a bomb. It was later determined to be fake, said the Sun.
Mustafa is accused of hijacking the EgyptAir flight bound for Cairo from Alexandria, forcing it to be diverted to Cyprus, reported
The Guardian.
"After about half an hour at Larnaca (airport in Cyprus), I asked for a photo with him as we were sitting around waiting," Innes told the Sun. "I thought, why not? If he blows us all up it won't matter anyway."
According to
The Telegraph, Innes said he contacted his mother Pauline before the drama ended.
"My mum was obviously frantic with worry and kept telling me not to do anything to draw attention to myself," Innes said. "I didn't know how to tell her I'd already done a selfie with the hijacker."
Some news reports said Mustafa wanted to talk to his estranged wife who lives on the island while others said he was seeking the release of female prisoners in Egypt. Mustafa eventually surrendered and all hostages were freed, said the
BBC News.
Innes was showered with criticism on Twitter.
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