Did one of the EgyptAir hostages really just take a photo with the hijacker?

We’ve heard of dangerous selfies - they killed more people than sharks in 2015, which probably pissed off sharks no end – but this may just be the most insane of them all.

Amid the hijacking drama which saw EgyptAir Flight MS181 taken over by a man claiming to be wearing a suicide belt earlier on a Cyprus runaway this morning, and the pilot forced to escape through a window, one grinning passenger managed to take a selfie with his captor according to a report by the MailOnline.

Thankfully, the hijacker, believed to be Egyptian national Seif Eldin Mustafa, did eventually hand himself into authorities following hours of negotiations, and reports have so far suggested the stunt may have been in a bid to talk to his estranged Cypriot wife.

The Daily Mail's source for the above image isn't clear at this moment in time but it does appear to match other photos of the hijacker that have been shared on social media.

Could it have just been a hugely inappropriate and seriously unlawful bid for love? We already know he let most of the 50+ passengers leave the plane, and on the basis of this photograph it appears he might have had something of a lighter, jovial relationship with his hostages on board. 

Whatever the answer, that fact that the world is currently going crazy over a selfie in the midst of a serious hijacking incident is surely a strange sign of the times.