most of the passengers were algerians; 138 of the passengers were algerian citizens. a significant number of the passengers were french people leaving algeria. captain bernard delhemme said that the hijackers, who had extensively planned the operation, did not anticipate that most of the passengers would be algerians. the hijackers recited quran verses and tried to reassure the algerian passengers. witness accounts said that they "terrorised" non-algerians.