Reply #5: More on the hijacking: Cuban officer killed in failed hijacking [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, May. 03, 2007
Cuban officer killed in failed hijacking
By ANDREA RODRIGEZ
Associated Press Writer

Fugitive army recruits tried to hijack a plane to the United States and killed a military officer they took hostage in the failed attempt early Thursday, the Interior Ministry said.

Two of the escaped recruits were arrested after Army Lt. Col. Victor Ibo Acuna Velazquez was killed in the aborted hijack that began in the pre-dawn hours when they commandeered a bus carrying several passengers to get to a plane on the tarmac, said a ministry statement.

"Despite being unarmed, he heroically tried to prevent the commission of the terrorist act," the statement said of the officer killed. Others who had been held hostage on the bus were unharmed, it added.

Throughout the day Thursday, there were rampant rumors of a shooting at the airport but the Cuban government and its official media were silent.

More:
http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/93475.html