Surveillance video appears to have captured the handoff of an explosive-laden laptop from airport workers to a Somali jet passenger who later blew a hole in the side of the craft before he was sucked out the side to his death.
Investigators said Tuesday’s explosion aboard Daallo Airlines Airbus 321 was caused by a bomb hidden in a laptop, and closed circuit video from Mogadishu airport obtained by Fox News seems to show the transfer of the laptop to the bomber.
An airport worker in an orange vest and a man in a white shirt can be seen initially walking from the top to the bottom of the picture, along a walkway leading to an open departure lounge. The man in the white shirt appears to be carrying a laptop in his right hand. The pair is in a secure area of the airport known as airside. Individuals must go through screening procedures before entering the area.
Later, a lone man, who investigators believe carried the bomb aboard the plane, moves down the walkway, where he briefly meets the airport worker and the man in the white shirt. The man in the white shirt hands the bomber the laptop before the three men split up.
Fox News has leaed several airport officials were arrested in coection with the blast. A senior Somali intelligence official told the Associated Press on Saturday that six people have been arrested so far.
The bomber was the lone person killed during Tuesday’s blast. The other 74 passengers on the plane were saved after the pilot was able to safely retu to the airport.
The explosion occurred 15 minutes after the plane took off, while it was still ascending.
“It was my first bomb; I hope it will be the last,” Capt. Vlatko Vodopivec, the pilot, told AP by phone from Mogadishu. He said the blast happened when the plane was at around 11,000 feet and still climbing to its cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. “It would have been much worse if we were higher,” he added.
Had the blast occurred at a higher altitude, it could have led to explosive decompression on the plane, which might have caused more severe structural damage, and would have forced a more rapid descent because of limited supplies of oxygen to the passengers.
After the explosion, passengers put on oxygen masks and air could be heard rushing thought the hole in the fuselage, according to a video taken by a passenger.
Somalia's govement said it will tighten security at the airport to prevent other threats.
Fox News’ Paul Tilsley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.