A pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight accidentally pressed a hijack alarm, triggering a major security response at Manila airport on Tuesday, authorities said.

Police isolated and surrounded the Saudia flight after it landed on Tuesday afternoon just after one of its pilots released a distress signal indicating a hijack incident was underway, the Philippine aviation authority said in a statement.

Hundreds of passengers aboard the Boeing 777 flight from the Red Sea city of Jeddah were forced to remain on the plane for more than two hours, but were let off about 5:00pm (0900 GMT) after it was confirmed there was no threat.

“Situation is normal. It was alleged that the pilot pressed the emergency light of the aircraft unintentionally,” Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde told reporters.

In Saudi Arabia, an airline spokesman also told AFP there was no security threat.

“False alarm for hijack for Flight 872,” the spokesman said.

The aviation authority statement said the distress signal pressed by the pilot alerted authorities “that a hijacking incident is on progress on board”.

“Immediately the flight was given priority landing by airport authorities… and was directed to park on the remote bay and isolated for security procedures,” the statement said.

“Apparently the pilot committed an error activating the 7500 squawking signal,” the statement said, referring to the hijack alarm.

It said an investigation would still be needed to confirm why the distress signal was pressed.

“Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if the result is indeed a human error,” it said.

There were 410 passengers on board, plus four pilots and 17 crew members, airport general manager Ed Monreal told reporters.

Many of them were returning from the annual Islamic pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

One of the passengers, Aida Majud, said they were not told why they were being kept on the plane.

“When we saw the armed men we thought, what’s the problem. We wanted to know what was happening,” Majud told ABS-CBN television network.

But she said the atmosphere was calm, with some speculating President Rodrigo Duterte had come to the airport to welcome back the pilgrims and that the armed men surrounding the plane were his security personnel.

Majud said passengers had to undergo body checks after getting off the plane to ensure no one was carrying weapons.

Airport officials said there were no major disruptions to aviation traffic, with planes continuing to land and take off, because the Saudia aircraft had been kept at an isolated area.

The carrier is known as Saudia.

Getting hitched in China, and just about everywhere, is often a joyous affair, usually complete with ceremonious proceedings in various shades of red.

The colour red, which symbolises prosperity and fortune, is used in many traditional Chinese festivals.

So it came as a bold statement when a Chinese couple from Shandong, held a divorce ceremony to announce the end of their marriage, Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported.

Just like a wedding, friends and relatives gathered to witness the proceedings, albeit in a more muted way. The couple even held one-half each of the Chinese character cutout “Double Happiness”, which is usually used at weddings.

While getting a divorce is typically frowned upon in China, this couple had no qualms about publicising it.

In fact, one photograph showed a massive red arch built over a road, with a celebratory message congratulating the couple on their divorce.

Attendees and some netizens say that the ceremony was an eye-opener, and that they had nothing but respect for the couple on their decision to end the marriage.

However, other netizens criticised them for celebrating a sad event.

One even cheekily exclaimed: “We give red packets during weddings, so do we get a refund during divorces?”

debwong@sph.com.sg

Wildlife officials fanned out in Bangkok’s famed Lumpini Park on Tuesday to trap and round up large lizards living there that imperil the fish and plant life and can startle unwary visitors.

The water monitor lizards, which can grow up to 2 m (6.5 feet) in length, are famous throughout the Thai capital, often coming face to face with residents and tourists as the reptiles crawl along roads or slither out of the city’s many canals.

Many lizards live in Lumpini Park, an inner-city oasis thronged by joggers, sunning themselves on its pavements or plunging into its pools. “They don’t hurt people but they do hurt nature, and trample on flowers,” Tuanjai Noochdamrong, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office under the Department of National Parks, told reporters.

“Our target is to catch 40 today.”

329436

Photo Gallery

Thai officials get rid of water monitor lizards in Lumpini Park

Source:

Reuters

• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–
• 
  
  <!–

The lizards will be taken to a wildlife breeding centre in Ratchaburi, around 129 km (80 miles) south of the capital, where they will be well cared for, city authorities have said.

But Michael Cota, a member of the IUCN Monitor Lizard Specialist Group, was not so sure. “They’re being transferred to what’s called a wildlife breeding centre where they take nuisance animals or animals handed over to the government and they supposedly take care of them there,” said Cota, who is based in Bangkok.

“They don’t have the resources to take care of them and most of them end up dying.

“I’m sure after three or four months most of them will be dead.”