Flight D3159: Blast blows hole in plane over Somalia; 1 falls and dies

An explosion rocked a commercial plane after it set off above East Africa on Tuesday, injuring two people before the pilot landed safely, a passenger said.

Somali authorities later discovered a body near Mogadishu they believe fell from the Daallo Airlines plane.

Late Tuesday night, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that Somali authorities confirmed one passenger had been blown or ejected out of the hole created by the explosion. Somalia’s National News Agency reported that one passenger died after falling from the plane.

Pictures from the ground showed a hole in one side of the airliner, just above its wing and slightly smaller than one of its doors.

Initial tests of the damage on Flight D3159 came back positive for explosive residue, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

A spokesman for Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke didn’t immediately indicate a bomb had gone off mid-flight, echoing a Daallo Airlines worker in saying “the incident is under investigation.”

Daallo Airlines is a Somali-owned airline based at Dubai Airport Free Zone in Al Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

CNN