Plane briefly hijacked in Mexico, all safe

MEXICO CITY: Hijackers seized an Aeromexico plane mid-flight today after it left the popular tourist resort of Cancun with 104 people on board triggering a brief airport drama, officials said.

"An Aeromexico plane was hijacked at Cancun airport and has landed at the airport in the Mexican capital," said an official with the prosecutors office.

All the people onboard the flight were safely evacuated at Mexico City, officials said, as security forces swarmed the capital's international airport within minutes of the plane landing today.

Six people were shown being led away in handcuffs by Mexican television.

Unconfirmed media reports claimed the hijackers, initially said to be three Bolivians,were carrying explosives.

But Transport Secretary Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas, refusing to confirm how many had been arrested or to give their nationalities, told local television there was no bomb on board.

"The government has control of the situation," he told local television shortly after the drama ended, adding "all the passengers have been evacuated safely, there is no bomb on the plane."

Aeromexico Flight 576 carrying 104 people was hijacked after leaving the resort city of Cancun on the Caribbean coast,popular with American tourists, en route to Mexico City.