LAHORE: An Indian airlines Boeing 737 carrying 77 passengers and a crew of six which left New Delhi for Jaipur on way to Bombay was hijacked to Lahore airport this morning [Sept 10]. The plane landed around 8 a.m. and halted about half a mile away from the airport building.

The nationality and the number of hijackers is yet to be identified but reports say they speak Urdu and English languages fluently. They are about six or seven in number. The hijackers released five passengers — a West German family of three … and an Indian couple... . According to reports … the hijackers demanded refuelling facilities at Lahore airport. … The demands and the destination of the hijackers remains a guarded secret. But the indications are that they want to go to Jeddah. … The hijackers reportedly belonged to an African country.

[As per a related report,] after releasing all the 77 passengers of the hijacked Indian Boeing 737, one of the six hijackers is in the airport building conducting negotiations with the Pakistani authorities... . Five of [the] hijackers together with the crew of the plane are in the aircraft awaiting the outcome of the negotiations. — Lahore Bureau

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2026