"We have successfully rescued everyone," said Air Vice Marshall Mofid, who goes by one name, after security forces stormed the plane and arrested a 25-year-old man for attempting to hijack flight BG147 which had taken off from the capital Dhaka.

The plane landed safely at Chittagong airport in southeastern Bangladesh, where the passengers were evacuated.

Mofid told reporters that the hijacker claimed he had a pistol, but he had since been taken into custody and is being questioned.

Army, Navy and elite police cordoned off the plane after it landed.

The country's civil aviation chief Nayeem Hasan earlier said the suspect had claimed to have a bomb.

"From the talks and dialogue we have with him, it seems he is psychologically deranged," Hasan said after the man was arrested.

Agence France-Presse