A video shows the moments after an explosion ripped a hole in the side of a Daallo Airlines plane. The aircraft made a successful emergency landing at Mogadishu International Airport in Somalia. Photo: Associated Press.
Mid-air explosion ... A gaping hole in the commercial airliner forced it to make an emergency landing at Mogadishu's international airport. Picture: AP Photo
THE SUICIDE bomber who was sucked to his death from an airliner over Somalia may have hidden a bomb inside a laptop computer, according to a report.
The explosive contained military-grade TNT, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with the investigation.
Meanwhile, Somali and international investigators have confirmed that the man ejected from the Daallo Airlines Airbus A321 was the suicide bomber, an official briefed on the probe told The Wall Street Journal.
Authorities have identified the man as Abdullahi Abdisalam Borle, 55, from the breakaway region of Somaliland in northern Somalia.
He used a wheelchair to circumvent security measures at the Mogadishu airport, the Journal reported.
Bomb blast ... A view of an airliner after an explosion aboard Daallo Airlines Airbus flying to Djibouti. Picture: Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
A security officer at the airport said the wheelchair-bound man did not appear suspicious, just sick.
“He seemed like someone ill, and as officers we usually help elderly people with those wheelchairs when they come to get to flights,” Saida Bare said. “He was a quiet man and nothing seemed wrong there until the flight took off.”
The explosion blew a hole in the fuselage of the Djibouti-bound plane and forced the pilot to return to the Somali capital for an emergency landing. Two people were injured.
On Friday, an official told the Journal that TNT residue had been found on the man’s remains, which landed near the town of Balad, 20 miles from Mogadishu.
At first, the Somali government blamed the explosion on a mechanical problem, but aviation and transport officials later said authorities were trying to get the “real cause of the plane incident”.
Mohammed Ibrahim Yassin, head of the Dubai-based airline, said that while he couldn’t confirm Borle was the bomber, it would explain why members of his family haven’t come forward.
“Nobody is coming forward and saying, ‘We know this passenger,’” Mr Yassin explained.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét