The Aviation Herald
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
A Daallo Airlines Airbus A321-200, registration SX-BHS performing flight D3-159 from Mogadishu (Somalia) to Djibouti (Djibouti) with 74 people on board, was climbing out of Mogadishu about 5 minutes into the flight when an explosion was heard. The crew stopped the climb and returned the aircraft to Mogadishu for a safe landing about 20 minutes after departure. A large hole was seen at the right hand side of the fuselage above the wing. Three occupants were taken to hospitals with injuries.
The airline confirmed an explosion on board, the cause is under investigation, an oxygen bottle is being suspected. There were two injuries, one of them serious.
Somalia's Ministry of Transport reported a fire on board of the aircraft, the fire was put out. The damage to the aircraft is being assessed.
Passengers report at least one person was blown out of the aircraft.
One passenger reported he saw the explosion occur inside the aircraft a couple of seat rows ahead of him followed by an air rush and sudden drop of cabin pressure, the seat belt held him in his seat. He saw two injured people around him, one an elderly man from Finland and another one being a young Italian. The elderly man was severly burned.
Local residents at Balad (Somalia), located about 21nm northnortheast of Mogadishu Airport, reported they saw a severly burnt body fall off an unidentified aircraft.