Video has been released showing that most of the passengers and crew on board the hijacked EgyptAir plane between Alexandria and Cairo have been freed.

EgyptAir Flight MS181 was taken over by a man thought to be strapped with explosives and forced to land in Cyprus.

After the EgyptAir plane landed at Larnaca airport, the hijacker appears to have released most of the people originally onboard. Egypts civil aviation minister said seven people remained on board the jet. About 60 people, including seven crew, had been onboard, Egyptian and Cypriot officials said.

Eyptian state media named the hijacker as Ibrahim Samaha, an Egyptian. Passengers on the plane included eight Britons and 10 Americans, three security sources at Alexandria airport said.

Citing security sources, Cypriot state media reported that the motives of the hijacker appeared personal, and had asked to contact his ex-wife, who lives in Cyprus.