This story just keeps getting stranger.
We were all enthralled by the events on flight MS181 as Seif Eldin Mustafa hijacked an EgyptAir flight bound for Cairo from Alexandria and forced it to be redirected to Cyprus.
The lives of the 62 people on board seemed to be in jeopardy as the hijacker claimed to be wearing a suicide belt but it all turned out to be a false alarm.
An Egyptian foreign ministry perfectly described Seif Eldin Mustafa by saying “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is”.
Ben Innes, the 26-year-old British health and safety auditor, might not be crazy but he’s getting famous after he became the latest viral star after he decided to pose for a photo with the hijacker.
Ben Innes from #Aberdeen poses for a picture with #EgyptAir #MS181 hijacker. pic.twitter.com/ywdGYuDWwm
— Paul Smith (@Journo_Paul) March 29, 2016
Innes has been speaking with The Sun and here’s why he took the photo. He says that he wanted to take “a closer look” at the apparent explosives belt, adding: “I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing to lose anyway.”
Yeah, just your life there Ben.
Here’s his full account:
“I’m not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it.
“I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever.”
“After about half an hour at Larnaca I asked for a photo with him as we were sitting around waiting. I thought, why not? If he blows us all up it won’t matter anyway.”
