The hijack story is fading fast, partly because of other stories replacing it in the news cycle and also because the lack of new information or coverage (the People’s Daily never did mention it at all) is killing it, presumably as the government wishes. However, in the interests of updating –and fairness (having been skeptical and still being somewhat so)–I am posting the latest facts as revealed by an anonymous government official to the Global Times (link here):
According to the official, a 19 year old Uyghur girl boarded the plane carrying one bottle of drinking water and two cans of gasoline mixed with perfume to hide the odor. The security guard was an older man, and on seeing them girl drinking from the water bottle did not ask her to open the other two cans for inspection.
According to this official, the terrorists intended to light the cans in the toilet forty minutes after the plane took off. Fortunately, the girl’s suspicious behavior in the restroom was noticed by the flight crew and a disaster was prevented.“This is a well prepared, carefully planned and organized terrorist attack”, says the official. The purpose of the attack was not to vent their anger at the society and cause a sensation, but to carry out a terrorist attack. At the moment the girl is under the control of the police, and an investigation on the terrorist group behind her is under way.