A 28-year-old man who hijacked a Brazilian jetliner with more than 100 people aboard has died following a five-hour police interrogation, hospital officials said. Raimundo Conceicao, described by authorities as a ``psychopath,'' died Tuesday of kidney failure after five days of steady progress, according to a medical report released by the Santa Genoveva hospital in Goiania, 850 miles northwest of Rio. On Sep. 29, Conceicao underwent surgery to stop internal bleeding caused by police bullet wounds suffered as the hijacking drew to a close. On Sunday, Conceicao underwent five hours of intense questioning by police on the hijacking. Late Monday afternoon, Conceicao was rushed to the hospital's intensive care unit with soaring blood pressure. The causes of Conceicao's sudden change in condition were unknown, according to the medical report, but a doctor who asked not to be identified said Conceicao's soaring blood pressure could have been prompted by a build-up of intestinal gases during the interrogation. Doctors on Monday refused to let police talk to Conceicao, saying his health had deteriorated. The contents of Conceicao's police deposition were not made public. On Sep. 29, Conceicao burst into the cockpit of a Brazilian jetliner on a routine flight from western Brazil to Rio and demanded the plane be flown to the federal capital of Brasilia. He reportedly told negotiators he wanted to crash the plane into a government building to ``settle accounts'' with the government over its economic policies. The plane was forced to land 125 miles southwest of the capital, in Goiania, where Conceicao shot and killed the co-pilot and wounded two others before being wounded by police as he prepared to change planes. On Monday, government officials announced passengers at major Brazilian airports will now have their baggage checked before boarding domestic flights. Previously, only passengers boarding international flights were subject to police checks.
