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Friday 8 February 2008

Somali woman charged with hijacking

A 33-year-old Somali woman has been charged with hijacking and several other charges including two counts of wounding following a violent attack during a domestic flight this morning. (Yahoo Xtra Friday 8th February 2008)

She will appear in Christchurch District Court tomorrow.

Police revealed the woman at one stage demanded to be flown to Australia.The woman is being held in police custody after attacking two pilots during a flight from Blenheim to Christchurch this morning.

One pilot received a cut to his hand and the other has an injured foot after the incident aboard an Eagle Air flight which landed safely just after 8am.

Police said during the attempted hijack the woman claimed there were bombs aboard the aircraft. It was later searched by the army bomb squad and specialist police teams.

Seven passengers were evacuated safely with one receiving a minor hand injury. Four of the passengers were New Zealanders, one was from Victoria, Australia, and one was an Indian national.