Sunday December 20, 2015
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Kenyan and French detectives are holding five passengers after a suspected bomb found in a toilet aboard an Air France flight from Mauritius that made an emergency landing at Mombasa International Airport.The suspects, two Muslims and three Christians, boarded the plane in Mauritius and were headed to Paris, France.
Senior Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) officers said the suspected bomb was mounted in the airplane’s lavatory, with a timer.
One of the officers told the Star bomb experts were able to successfully dismantle the suspected bomb and handed it to forensic experts for further analysis.
The timer was on but the intended destination of the attack could not be immediately established by the Kenyan security authorities.
The operation involved five senior bomb experts drawn from the Kenya Navy and the Kenya Police Unit.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said Kenyan authorities received a distress call from Air France and were able to evacuate over 473 passengers from the Boeing 777 Flight.
“The Air France plane was en-route to Paris from Mauritius and made an emergency landing in Mombasa after a suspicious device was found in the lavatory. We are still analyzing the device,” said Nkaissery.
Senior detectives from France were dispatched from Nairobi to assist in the complex investigation.
Nkaissery told the media that the airplane is still detained at the Moi International Airport for further investigation.
“Air France has dispatched another aircraft to pick the passengers but meanwhile the investigation is still going on and we will give an update about the process about the device,” said the CS, who was flanked by Interior PS Monica Juma.
Nkaissery said passengers on board have been interrogated.
The passengers were successfully evacuated and booked at various hotels in Mombasa, including Travelers Beach Hotel waiting to be transferred to their destination.
He said Kenyan authorities are working with Mauritian authorities to assist in profiling the passengers and establish their nationalities.
“We must inform Kenyans that our airports are very secure and our team will always remain alert all the time,” said Nkaissery.
Nobody was hurt during the emergency landing.