KINGSTON, Jamaica-HIGH tensions ended early this morning as a man who held a plane at the Sangster International Airport hostage surrendered to local law enforcement.
Stephen Fray of Montego Bay, who is in his 20s, burst through security at the airport last night around 10:20 and forced his way onto CanJet flight 918, which was bound for Halifax, Canada after a scheduled stop in Santa Clara, Cuba.
Fray then took the 159 passengers and eight crew members hostage. Shortly after demanding money from some of the occupants, the hijacker released all of the passengers and two of the crew members.
He continued to hold the remaining six crew members hostage until 6:40 this morning when members of the Jamaica Defence Force Counter Terrorism Operations Group executed a tactical operation that disarmed the man and released the remaining hostages.
“The hijacker is in police custody and is scheduled to be interviewed while crew members are being debriefed and will be provided with counselling and medical services,” a release from the government stated.
No one is reported to have suffered injuries during the seven hour ordeal.
According to reports from the government following the incident, it is believed that Fray suffers from some type of “mental challenges” and it is unclear at this time what his motivation for the hijacking was.
Officials of CanJet said that they were relieved the incident resolved itself without harm coming to any of the involved parties.
“Obviously we were extremely concerned for the well-being of everyone involved in this incident. Our priority is now to provide comfort and support to the passengers and crew who were involved in this ordeal. The crew who were being held are receiving medical attention as a precaution,” General Manager Kent Woodside stated.
“We would also like to thank the security authorities in Jamaica and Canada, including the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). And we're extremely grateful for the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office,” he added.
The government further stated that it would reimburse those hostages who were robbed during the hijacking as a way to help insure that the Jamaican tourism product is not damaged by the incident.
CanJet has announced plans to send a plane for the affected passengers sometime today and either take them to Cuba or back to Canada free of charge.
Jamaica News