THE THREE hostages who were the victims of a minibus hijacking at Dublin Airport yesterday say they were unaware the vehicle was stolen and believed they were being taken to their hotel.

Gardaí say the hostages, who are tourists from Colombia and England, were oblivious to the hijacking and said that while the driving was 'erratic', they did not feel to be in any danger and assumed they were being taken to their hotel as planned.

According to RTÉ, when the two men who had hijacked the vehicle let the hostages off near Julianstown in County Meath, they went into a nearby hotel and attempted to check in only to be told they had no booking.

The tourists contacted Aer Lingus and got a taxi back to the airport before eventually being taken to the correct hotel ahead of their connecting European flight this morning.

The oblivious tourists had been taken hostage by two men who hijacked a minibus due to shuttle them to the nearby Carlton Airport yesterday, 8 January 2020.

The hijackers locked the doors of the vehicle, demanding a ransom for their release, before dropping them near the M50 and taking off towards the Northern Irish border before diverting back to County Monaghan.


Gardaí, including an armed Emergency Response Unit as well as an air support unit, took chase after the minibus.

It's believed that the minibus crashed into a police vehicle and the two culprits fled the scene on foot before stealing another car.

Gardaí gave chase to the suspects before apprehending them and taking them into custody.

The two men, believed to be in their 30s, were taken to Carrickmacross Garda Station for questioning.