2 suspects dead in China plane hijack attempt

Beijing – Chinese state media reported that two men who allegedly tried to hijack a plane in far west China by battering the cockpit door with a crutch and trying to set off explosives have died.

Earlier reports said six Uighur men were arrested Friday following the foiled hijack attempt in the far-western Xinjiang region. Four crew members were injured in the tussle.

An overseas rights group said the incident wasn’t a hijacking attempt but an in-flight brawl over a seat dispute.

The state-run Global Times newspaper reported Monday that two of the suspects had died but didn’t say when or how, and that two were hospitalized after injuring themselves.

Xinjiang is home to a large population of minority Uighurs (pronounced WEE’-gurs), but is ruled by China’s ethnic majority Hans.