China Hijacking Photos: Taijin Airlines Fight Pics from Weibo

Hijacking Attempt Foiled by Passengers & Crew: Photos on Weibo

Six hijackers attempted to take over a Tianjin Airlines flight from Hotan to Urumqi on June 29, 2012. The hijacking was attempted ten minutes after the flight took off.

The hijackers were foiled by passengers and crew. Photos of the Taijin Airlines hijacking attempt hit Chinese social media before state-controlled media got hold of the story. You can see some of those photos below.

The photos were posted to Weibo (China's version of Twitter) by a friend of one of the passengers. Those photos were quickly shared among Weibo's 300 million users.

The plane was turned around and landed back in Hotan, where the six hijackers were arrested. Some of the flight crew suffered injuries during the fight.

Hotan, near Kashmir, is home to the mostly-Muslim ethnic Uigurs, who are blamed by Beijing for escalating tensions in the region. Human rights activists say that Beijing's story is overstated.

Photos

China Hijacking Photo

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