Man’s Selfie with Hijacker Goes Viral

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EgyptAir Flight 181 was hijacked yesterday by a man wearing a fake explosive belt. During the 7-hour ordeal, one of the hostages decided to ask the hijacker to pose for a selfie.

That man was 26-year-old Ben Innes, a British health and safety worker. With the translation help of a cabin member, Innes told the hijacker, Seif Eldin Mustafa, that he wanted to take a photo with him.

“I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it,” Innes tells The Sun. “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.”

Gizmodo reports that Innes apparently shared the photo with friends through WhatsApp:

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Today, Innes bizarre selfie has sparked controversy and has appeared on the covers of newspapers and magazines around the world.

The photo has sparked plenty of discussion and controversy as well. First off, The Guardian argues that it shouldn’t even be called a selfie in the first place, because it was taken by a stewardess, not Innes himself.

People are also remixing Innes’ photo into various memes.

Others are saying that the stunt was reckless and could have put others in jeopardy.

“I suppose it’s a sign of the times,” security expert Will Geddes of ICP Group tells The Sun, “it’s the Facebook selfie generation — but this was highly irresponsible.”

Discussion