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The 'bomb' explosion which blew a hole in the side of a plane could have been a terrorist attack which went wrong.

A mystery blast on board Daallo Airlines Flight D3159 tore a huge hole through the fuselage as the plane was thousands of feet in the air.

Now aviation sources say the aircraft was delayed leaving Somalia on route to Djibouti.

This means any potential bomb on board, if set to a timer, exploded at a lower altitude giving passengers a better chance surviving the blast.

The ill-fated flight caught fire just five minutes after taking off from Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu.

Airport officials say everyone on board survived the incident - although Somali authorities say they found a body which may have fallen from the plane.

Vladimir Vodopivec, 64, the plane's Serbian pilot, told Blic: "I think it was a bomb.

"Luckily, the flight controls were not damaged so I could return and land at the airport. Something like this has never happened in my flight career.

"We lost pressure in the cabin. Thank god it ended well."

A source told CNN initial tests show explosive residue indicating the aircraft may have been the victim of a terrorist attack.

Passengers on the flight are now being quizzed.

As flames and smoke filled the cabin, the jet turned around and incredibly managed to perform an emergency landing at the Raas Cabaad-based airport.

It was met on the tarmac by emergency crews, who were shocked to see a massive hole in the fuselage on the aircraft's right hand side, just behind its R2 door.

Remarkably, airport officials say everyone onboard survived the incident.

However, at least three people suffered minor injuries - and some locals even claimed to have seen a severely burned body falling from the sky in the area.

(Image: VOA)

Now, it has emerged that passengers are being questioned about the blast - with officials reportedly treating the incident as 'suspicious'.

Somali security forces are investigating the cause of the incident, according to voasomali.com .

According to local reports, the jet had just departed from Mogadishu when passengers heard a loud 'bang' from an explosion.

(Image: VOA)

The aircraft was said to be on flames and surrounded by smoke when it touched down on the tarmac this morning.

Two passengers were initially said to have suffered minor injuries in the incident.

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However, it has since been reported that locals near Balcad town in Somalia claim to have seen a badly burned body falling from a plane at around the time Flight D3159 turned around, according to Goobjoog News.

(Image: Goobjoog News)

It is unclear whether these assertions and the Daalloo Airlines incident are linked.

It has also since been reported that a third person was wounded in the blaze.

At least 70 passengers and crew members are believed to have been on the plane at the time.

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Daallo Airlines is a Somali-owned airline.

Based at Dubai Airport Free Zone, the firm operates scheduled services in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Mirror Online has contacted Daalloo Airlines for comment.