Daallo Airlines: Man sucked out from plane following blast

A man was sucked out of a commercial airliner after a blast ripped a hole in the plane shortly after take-off. The Daallo Airlines plane took off from an airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Tuesday and was headed to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa when an explosion left a hole in the passenger cabin. Investigators reportedly suspect the militant group Al Shabaab was behind the explosion.

According to local authorities, the man’s body was found by residents in nearby Balcad, about 30 kilometres north of the Somalia capital. The man, 55, is believed to have been sucked out of the side of the Airbus A321, where the explosion caused damage.

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According to reports, passengers heard a loud and couldn’t see anything for a while because of the smoke. When visibility returned, they saw a gaping hole in the plane.

The explosion forced the plane to return to the airport. Two passengers were taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

Daallo agent Mohamed Hussein explained to Reuters that a “fire had exploded,” while the airlines said that the plane “experienced an incident,” neglecting to mention the blast.

“The aircraft landed safely and all of our passengers were evacuated safely,” a statement on the airline’s Facebook reads. “A thorough investigation is being conducted by Somalia Civil Aviation Authority.”

Officials at Somalia’s civil aviation authority said they found no evidence of a criminal act in the explosion, although a US government source claimed investigators believe Somali extremist group Al Shabaab was behind the attack. There has been no word from Al Shabaab so far.

The sources told Reuters that initial forensic testing detective possible traces of TNT on the aircraft. An official warned, though, that it could be a false-positive result. Further tests are ongoing. Investigators are apparently convinced that an explosive of some kind was used on the plane.