The Guy Who Took A Photo While Grinning Next To The EgyptAir Hijacker
The exact moment when no f#ck was given.
By Sadho Ram — 30 Mar 2016, 03:35 PM
Look at this man on the right, identified as a 26-year-old British Ben Innes. He was one of the last remaining hostages on the hijacked EgyptAir flight yesterday. He is seen here posing with Seif Eldin Mustafa, the man who hijacked the flight using fake suicide belt!
It's a strange photo for several reasons
First being, WHY IS HE EVEN GRINNING?
Secondly, who in their right frame of mind think of even posing alongside the guy who has hijacked an entire plane?
Moreover, this photo was likely taken near the end of the 6-hour standoff with police in Cyprus. But neither man looks distressed. WHY? What is happening there?
Ben, who is a health and safety auditor from Leeds, was returning home on a business trip when the EgyptAir flight was hijacked.
And like us, if you too are wondering as to why did he pose for the photo-op with the hijacker, Ben, while speaking to The Sun, said:
“I’m not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it.
“I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever,” he told The Sun.
"I thought, why not? If he blows us all up it won't matter anyway."
Ben Innes’ stunt was decried by security experts, praised by relatives, and said to be “totally in character” by friends.
“Only Ben could get a selfie! #proud,” reportedly tweeted Sarah Innes, a relative. Her account was later deleted.
The image has been widely described as a “selfie”, but Innes’ mother Pauline Innes argued that it was clear her son did not take the image himself.
“All we can say is that the picture is clearly not a selfie as everyone has been describing it,” she said. “You can clearly see that it is not Ben who is taking the picture. He’s in it but he’s not taking it.”
theguardian.com
The last three passengers on the hijacked EgyptAir flight MS181, including Briton Ben Innes, centre, run across the tarmac after leaving the plane.
Image via George Michael/AFP/Getty Images