Passengers involved in what officials have called an attempt to crash a Chinese airliner last week were carrying “suspicious liquids” on board, the national aviation authority said Monday.
A China Southern Airlines flight crew foiled Friday’s alleged attempt to deliberately crash a plane flying to Beijing from Urumqi, capital of the northwest region of Xinjiang, an official from the region said on Sunday. The aviation regulator added on Monday that “some passengers were in possession of suspicious liquids” on the flight.
The plane was subsequently diverted to the city of Lanzhou in Gansu province, where the substances were removed, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said. The plane continued on to Beijing. The aviation administration gave no other details. The dearth of information in the case and another alleged incident raises suspicion as to whether they were being used as an excuse to crackdown on dissent before the Olympics, an official from Human Rights Watch told AFP.
The hijack plot was one of two alleged incidents cited by officials from Muslim-dominated Xinjiang over the weekend that stoked fears of terrorism with the Beijing Olympics only five months away. |