Video footage at Mogadishu airport appears to show two men handing what looks like a laptop bag to the suspect after passing security, spokesman says

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Video footage analysed as part of Somalia’s investigation into an explosion that blew a hole in a passenger plane shows two men handing what looks like a laptop to the suspected bomber after he passed through security, a government spokesman has said.

At least one of the men delivering the item was an airport employee, government spokesman Abdisalam Aato said.

The suspected suicide bomber was blown from the Daallo Airlines jet on Tuesday, creating a gaping hole in the fuselage and forcing the plane to make an emergency landing back at Mogadishu airport.

It is believed the laptop-like device was the bomb that caused the explosion. The plane’s pilot said that if the explosion happened when the aircraft was at a higher altitude it could have caused the jet to crash.

“At least 20 people, including the two men in the CCTV footage who handed over the laptop to the suspected bomber, were arrested in connection with the explosion in the aircraft,” said Aato.

“It was a deliberate act of terrorism,” he said. “Investigations are still ongoing.”

Somalia’s government has said it will tighten security at the airport to prevent other threats.

The CCTV video shows two men, one in a bright yellow airport security vest, handing a laptop-like bag to a passenger waiting to board.

The video of the apparent security lapse at the airport fits with the description of lax security by the pilot of the plane.

“The security is zero,” Vlatko Vodopivec, the pilot who guided the plane down, said. “When we park [the plane] there, some 20 to 30 people come to the Tarmac,” said the veteran pilot who has made numerous flights to the airport. “No one has a badge or those yellow vests. They enter and leave the plane, and no one knows who is who ... They can put anything inside when passengers leave the aircraft.”

The explosion happened about 15 minutes after the plane, with 75 passengers on board, took off from the airport and was at 3,500 metres (11,000 feet) ascending toward 9,500m (31,000ft).

“When we went past 10,000ft, we switched off the fasten belts sign and the cabin crew started serving passengers,” Vodopivec said in an interview in Belgrade. “When we climbed past 11,000ft, it exploded. At first, I thought it was a window breaking. However, we soon sensed the smell of the explosives when smoke came rushing into the cockpit.

“All lasted very shortly,” he said. “We immediately demanded an emergency return to the airport because that was the only solution. With a heavy heart, because there the security is minimal and we had to remain there for a couple of days afterward.”

If the explosion happened at a higher altitude, the hole in the fuselage might have caused more severe structural damage, he said.

“If we were higher, the whole plane could have disintegrated after the explosion,” Vodopivec said.

“The plane acted normally and we virtually returned normally. Engines and hydraulics worked normally.”

The explosion killed one passenger, Abdullahi Abdisalam Borle, according to Somali officials who did not give further details. A man’s body was found in the town of Balad, 30km (18 miles) north of Mogadishu, according to police who said he might have been blown from the plane.

Borle is suspected to have been the suicide bomber, said a senior Somali civil aviation official, who insisted on anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak to the media.

Somalia faces an insurgency from the Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab, which has carried out deadly attacks in Somalia and neighbouring countries.

Daallo Airlines, which is based in Dubai, has temporarily suspended its operations in Somalia’s capital following the incident but hopes to restart them soon, said Mohammed Ibrahim Yassin, the airline’s chief executive.

Vodopivec also highlighted additional security concerns in the Somali capital, including some planes that are struck by gunfire on approach to the airport.

“You can land at the airport only from the sea side,” he said. “On the other side of the runway is the city. Bigger planes don’t land over the city because of security concerns. Some planes landed with bullet holes in their fuselage.”