On Tuesday, Seif Eldin Mustafa hijacked EgyptAir Flight 181 with a fake explosive belt. Fortunately, all the hostages were released safely, and so we know that Ben Innes got a photograph with the hijacker while being held captive. Predictably, this photo spread around the Internet. While the whole situation is deplorable, this photo is truly something.
“Smile!” [Link]
The response from young Benjamin’s mother is what really tops off this story. When he initially told her he was in the middle of a hostage situation, she specifically told him not to draw attention to himself. Needless to say, she was quite upset with her son at the end of the ordeal. Here’s a quote:
Mrs Innes told the Sun that he had not posed for a “selfie” with the hijacker, who was described as “psychologically unstable” by Cypriot officials. “You can clearly see that it is not Ben who is taking the picture,” she said.
Her son was on a hijacked plane with a mentally unbalanced individual, and she’s hung up on the semantics of who exactly took the photo. Amazing. Yet let us also note that she’s right! A selfie, by definition, must be taken by one of the subjects of the photo!
