Video shows moment British hostage posed for photo with EgyptAir hijacker

Ben Innes has described the photo as 'the best selfie ever'

The alleged hijacker, Seif Eldin Mustafa, has since appeared in court in Cyprus

A video has emerged that appears to show the moment British hostage Ben Innes posed for a photograph with the EgyptAir hijacker.

The image, described erroneously by the 26-year-old health and safety auditor as “the best selfie ever”, has been widely shared around the world and sparked a mixture of amusement and condemnation.

Filmed by a Dutch passenger and aired on a talk show in the Netherlands, the video shows an air steward beckoning to Mr Innes to come to the back of the plane and asking: “You want to take a photo with him?”

Mr Innes can be seen walking down the aisle to where the hijacker was sat, just out of sight, wearing what those on board at the time still feared was a suicide bomb vest.

He says: “Yeah, yeah, is that OK?” before adding something inaudible in an apparent bid to reassure the would-be bomber, named by Egyptian and Cypriot authorities as Seif Eldin Mustafa.

Other passengers can be heard laughing as the air steward asks if Mr Innes wants “another one”, and he agrees before raising a finger to point at the hijacker. That second photo has yet to emerge in public.

Mr Innes has claimed in an interview with the Sun that the photo was an opportunity to “get a closer look” at the apparent bomb used by the hijacker. It later emerged to be made up of a series of iPhone covers.

He told the newspaper: “I’m not sure why I did it, I just threw caut­ion to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity.”

Another passenger who also remained among the final few hostages when all others had been released, an Italian named Andrea Banchetti, told the Guardian he too was frantically searching for clues that the bomb might be fake.

He said he was considering making a break for freedom, but didn’t do so because he feared for his fellow passengers. “And then, Benjamin takes a selfie with the desperate man? Maybe they call it English aplomb?”

Seif Eldin Mustafa was remanded in custody by a Cypriot court on Wednesday on suspicion of hijacking, abduction, threatening violence, terrorism-related offences and two counts related to possession of explosives.