A gaping hole opened in the side of an Airbus A321 jet operated by Daallo Airlines, shortly after it departed from the Mogadishu airport in Somalia this morning, headed for Djibouti. Early reports said there was a loud noise, just minutes after takeoff, and at least two passengers were injured. A third passenger appears to have fallen from the plane. A body was found shortly after the plane landed. Passengers said they heard a bang, and some reported flames or smoke, and then a hole opened in the plane’s side. “I don’t know if it was a bomb or an electric shock, but we heard a bang inside the plane,” passenger Mohamed Ali told The Associated Press. The crew was able to circle back to the airport and land safely.
This video, posted today on YouTube, appears to show the interior of the airplane as the crew maneuvered back to the airport. Daallo Airlines is a Somali-owned airline, based at Dubai Airport Free Zone. The airline operates scheduled services in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
