A film-shooting about a plane hijacking at Malta's airport was interrupted by a real-life hijack

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Malta People Disembark Hijack Libya Afriqiyah Airways

REUTERS/Darrin Zammit-Lupi

People disembark from a hijacked Libyan Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 on the runway at Malta Airport, December 23, 2016.

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A film shoot at a Malta airport about a hijacked plane was interrupted when a Libyan plane that was hijacked in real life landed on the runway, BBC reported on Friday.

"Entebbe" - the film about a hijacked plane that was being shot when the real-life hijacked plane landed - tells the story of a hijacking and hostage situation that happened 40 years ago in Uganda.

"It's very ironic because then there was the real hijack on," Magda Magri Naudi, the mayor of Lija, told the BBC.

Naudi said the film crew had to stop filming when the hijacked plane landed on the runway, but that the Maltese armed forces were well-equipped to deal with the situation.

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"We've had five hijackings landing here and ironically today they were actually filming Entebbe on the airport grounds - and that had to be stopped," she said.

In the end, all 118 hostages were released from the plane safely and the hijackers, who described themselves as "pro-Gaddafi" and said they wanted asylum in Malta, were taken into custody.

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