A passenger sucked from a Somali commercial jet on Feb. 2 after an explosion blew a hole in its fuselage may have been a suicide bomber, according to a new report.
Investigators suspect the bomber used a wheelchair to smuggle an explosive device on board the Daallo Airlines plane, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an anonymous Western diplomat as a source. He was expelled from the cabin in the explosion, and authorities recovered his body about 20 miles from Mogadishu.
“An individual got onto the plane in a wheelchair and is suspected of being the suicide bomber,” the diplomat said.
After the blast, the Djibouti-bound plane performed an emergency landing back in Mogadishu. The pilot told the AP he thought the explosion was a bomb blast, but officials said they had not determined the cause. Two people on board suffered minor injuries.
[WSJ]
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Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com