By DPA,
Kingston : An armed hostage-taker Monday released all passengers aboard a charter plane at an airport on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, media reports said.
The news channel CNN reported that the man was still holding five crew members of the Boeing 737 stationed on the tarmac at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.
The channel said that the plane was surrounded by police who were negotiating with the man. CNN quoting Radio Jamaica said it was not clear what his demands were, while other media reported that he wanted to be flown to Cuba.
The CanJet plane had been scheduled to fly from Sangster to Halifax in Canada. Airport authorities closed the facility amid the incident.
According to the online edition of Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner, at 11 p.m. Sunday the gunman boarded the plane using false identification documents, and proceeded to rob passengers on the aircraft before 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 was injured.
The Gleaner quoted staff at the airport as saying that the hostage-taker appeared to be a Latin-American male.