Greek authorities said two military planes escorted a Ryanair flight between Poland and Greece with 190 people on Sunday after authorities received a bomb threat.
Two F-16s escorted the plane, which took off from Katowice for Athens, as it entered Greek North Macedonia airspace, a source told AFP.
The source added that the Boeing 737 was previously escorted by two Hungarian fighter jets.
The plane then landed in a secluded spot on the runway at Athens International Airport just before 4pm GMT, two and a half hours late.
Greek police spokeswoman Constantia Demogledou told AFP that “the passengers were shot down and are being searched”.
“There were 190 people on board, including the crew. The plane will look for passengers,” she added.
As the plane was approaching Athens, it was diverted out to sea as a precaution.
The director of public relations at Katowice airport, Piotr Adamczyk, said that the airport administration received a call that there was a bomb on board the plane over Slovakia.
“After the plane took off, the airport’s information center received a call about the possibility of having an explosive device on board,” he told AFP.
“We contacted the control tower, which in turn contacted the pilots,” he added.
Source: EuroNews
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