Armed man takes hostages aboard Jamaica charter jet

JamaicaKingston - An armed man has taken some 150 people aboard a plane on the Caribbean island of Jamaica hostage, media reports said Monday.

The hostage-taking is believed to be taking place on an aircraft that had been scheduled to fly from the Sangster International airport in Montego Bay, to Halifax in Canada, the news channel CNN reported.

According to the online edition of local newspaper The Gleaner, at 11pm on Sunday (0400 GMT Monday) the gunman boarded the plane using false identification documents, proceeded to rob passengers on the aircraft, and is currently holding them hostage.

The newspaper also said that at least one shot had been fired on board the plane, although it is not clear if anyone has been injured.

The Gleaner quoted staff at the airport as saying that the hostage-taker appeared to be a Latin-American male. The paper reported that the plane belonged to the CanJet airline, although this has not been confirmed by the company. (dpa)

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