CAIRO — Egyptians officials say a bomb threat forced an EgyptAir plane en route to Beijing from Cairo to make an emergency landing in Uzbekistan.

The passengers were evacuated and the aircraft was being searched.

The plane, an Airbus A-330-220 with 135 passengers and crew on board, landed in Uzbekistan three hours after it took off from Cairo at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The plane landed at the airport in the town of Urgench, about 600 miles west of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

Officials said an anonymous caller telephoned security agents at the Cairo airport to say a bomb was on board the flight. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.