A hijacked Boeing 747 “has been successfully’ stormed by police, rescuing all passengers and crew “on board. 

The Jumbo let, flight 857 from Tokyo to Hakodate, was commandeered on Wednesday by a man wielding what appeared to be an ice pick.

The man, later identified as Fumio Kutsumi, a 53-year-old bank employee, gained control of the plane by seizing a flight attendant.

Kutsumi claimed to be carrying plastic explosives.

On arrival at Hakodate airport he demanded that the plane be refueled and own back to Tokyo, threatening to detonate the explosives if his demands were not met.

The ANA jet remained on the tarmac at Hakodate for 16 hours while police attempted to negotiate with the hijacker.

In the early hours of Thursday morning a special task force stormed the plane after Kutsumi threatened to begin killing the hostages.

The hijacker was arrested and the 364 captives, including seven infants were released. None of the hostages were injured in the raid, although seven people were later taken to the hospital.

These included a 24-year-old Yokohama woman who had been slightly injured when Kutsumi stabbed her in the shoulder during the previous night.

There were no other reports of serious injuries. This the first time that a hijacking in Japan has been resolved by storming plane.

Police have begun questioning Kutsumi, but say that they have, as yet, been unable to establish a motive.