London: A man who posted a smiling selfie with the EgyptAir hijacker and which went viral on the social media has been identified as a 26-year-old Briton, the media reported on Wednesday.
Benjamin Innes, who is from Leeds but lives in Aberdeen, was held hostage along with 56 passengers on EgyptAir MS181 flight by Seif Eldin Mustafa.
In fact, Innes has hailed it as the "selfie of a lifetime".
Mustafa had personal motives to hijack the plane and his action was later linked to his ex-wife, who is a Greek-Cypriot and lives in Larnaca.
Innes, seen in the selfie with Mustafa, posed it to his friends on Twitter with a message: "You know your boy doesn`t f*** about. Turn on the news lad!!!"
A friend replied: "Is that a bomb attached to the guys chest? You ok? Let us know when you get off."
According to Daily Mail, Innes is believed to have approached Mustafa while being held hostage on the tarmac and sent the photo to one of his flatmates as well as other friends.
"I have no idea why he took the selfie but I imagine he probably volunteered to take it as he`s no afraid to shy away from anything," Innes` friend Chris Tundogan told MailOnline.
The social media went wild over the photo with the hijacker and several Twitter users lauded the British man for the daring "selfie".
This is how Twitter reacted to the news:
#EgyptAir selfie
This guy clicked with the hijacker...
Actually this called as "Photo Bomb" pic.twitter.com/jUd6bjZvGc
— Binary Baba™ v3.0.1 (@0__1) March 29, 2016
I gotta admit: Getting a selfie with your hijacker is top-shelf.
— Ryan G. Reynolds (@RyanReynolds) March 29, 2016
Hijacker claiming to have explosives, do you?
Wrestle to the ground.
Stay seated.
Take selfie. pic.twitter.com/1HW39IX7OD
— Ben (@Jamin2g) March 29, 2016
Not a selfie, but this might be the greatest picture of a Brit in living memory pic.twitter.com/dupCkuvYIU
— amol rajan (@amolrajan) March 29, 2016
You gotta take a selfie with the hijacker or else it didn't happen. #EgyptAir pic.twitter.com/5NigfgXfzq
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) March 29, 2016
How was your flight
it got hijacked
What
Yeah got a selfie with the freak
Why
Because its 2016 #EgyptAir pic.twitter.com/qW2OV31RvO— AFC GLEN (@AFC_GLEN) March 29, 2016
We may have reached peak selfie as a civilization. https://t.co/sVyVi3tuny
— Raheel Khursheed (@Raheelk) March 29, 2016
What to do when the Hijacker has a bomb vest? A: Scream, B: Run, C: Take a Selfie? Im going with C. #EgyptAir pic.twitter.com/1vAeJNL4iF
— Charlie Kenward (@Kenners_mirror) March 29, 2016
