A Daallo Airlines Airbus A321-100, registration SX-BHS performing flight D3-159 from Mogadishu (Somalia) to Djibouti (Djibouti) with 74 passengers and 7 crew, 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.

Somalia's Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority (SCAMA) reported in the evening, that the aircraft with 81 people on board was climbing through FL100 out of Mogadishu when the crew reported a sudden fault requiring an immediate return to Mogadishu. There were three injuries on board of the aircraft. SCAMA also made a statement in Somali about whether all passengers were accounted for and whether one was dead, however, The Aviation Herald was unable to translate with any degree of certainty: "Maareeyaha ayaa xaqiijiyay in markii ay soo dejiyeen dhammaan rakaabkii diyaaradda la waayay hal qof, kaasoo meydkiisa dib laga helay ayuu sheegay iney baaris ku hayaan,natiijadana ay dib kasoo gudbin doonaan." (any Somali reader wanting to help with the translation please contact the editor via the contact button below).

Hole seen from the outside (Photo: Harun Maruf)

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.

Hole seen from the cabin (Photo: Harun Maruf)

Local residents at Balad (Somalia), located about 21nm northnortheast of Mogadishu Airport, reported they saw a severly burnt body fall off an unidentified aircraft.

The aircraft back on the ground in Mogadishu (Photo: Goobjoog News)