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Morning News

Hijackers Release 5 Passengers From Afghan 727 at British Airport

Aired February 7, 2000 - 9:01 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to begin with international news and a tense hijacking drama that is still unfolding at an airport near London. Some passengers were released today and officials say that negotiations have reached a delicate stage. The ordeal started yesterday when hijackers seized the plane during a flight from the Afghan capital of Kabul. The plane then made stops in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia before it arrived in England earlier today.

CNN's Richard Blystone has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD BLYSTONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first breakthrough on British soil came when the Afghan 727 had been on the ground nearly 10 hours. Small figures were seen on the ground from a distance. Police said they included two children, two men and a woman who had been released. The police said talks were at a delicate stage.

The flight from Moscow landed just after 2:00 in the morning at Stansted Airport 30 miles out of London, chosen to minimize air traffic disruption and maximize police ability to deal with the hijackers.

Authorities isolated the 727 at a far end of the airport and began communicating with the plane through the control tower. The deputy chief constable of the county said it was calm aboard the plane and knocked down any suggestion that commandos might storm it.

JOHN DALTON, ESSEX POLICE: Our principal concern remains the welfare of those on board. And to this end, we are discussing the delivery of food and medication to help those on board.

BLYSTONE: Police and fire department vehicles set up an encampment at the at the airport perimeter preparing for what could be a long siege. As a cold dawn approached, the hijackers asked for and received food and a generator to light and heat the plane.

Incoming and outgoing planes by budget airlines were limited, disrupting the holidays of thousands of Britons hoping for a few days of warmth and sun.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLYSTONE: Twelve hours after the plane landed here, those holiday flights are now taking off over our heads, and sometimes passing very close to the spot down here where you see a blue and white plane, the 727 from Afghanistan. That won't be taking off any time soon, the British say.

We think we can see a door open on the starboard side forward. We don't know what that's for but we do know it's not really needed for ventilation, or shouldn't be, since a generator's been delivered out there.

In any case, a few details are leaking out now. The negotiations are going on. And although Afghan translators are at hand, they are in English. The police and fire department's presence near here has diminished a great deal in a couple of hours. The mood is much more optimistic than it was, but it could be a long still.

I'm Richard Blystone, CNN, live at Stansted Airport outside London.

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