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ONE PASSENGER IS missing after a blast on a commercial airliner that ripped a hole in its fuselage shortly after take-off from Somalia’s capital, the airline said today.
“All passengers except one disembarked safely after aircraft landed at the airport,” Daallo Airlines said in a statement. “Investigations are underway to ascertain the cause of one missing passenger.”
Aviation experts and the pilot who landed the plane safely in Mogadishu after the explosion on Tuesday have said they fear the blast was a bomb. There has been no official confirmation of the cause of the explosion.
It was not clear if the missing passenger had been on the plane and was potentially blown up in the blast — or sucked out through the ragged hole ripped in the metal — or if there was some miscounting with the list of those on board.
Photographs showed a large hole — about a metre in diameter — just above the engines on the right wing, with streaks of soot on the plane.
“Two passengers have been reported to have suffered minor injuries and they were taken to the hospital for treatment,” Daallo added.
The airline operates flights across Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa and Gulf region.
Somalia’s government has said the blast was believed to be caused by a problem with air pressure.
“The flight was approximately 15 minutes in the air when the incident happened which caused a hole in the fuselage,” Daallo added.
Heavily fortified
Video footage taken after the blast showed people having moved to the back of the plane with emergency oxygen masks dangling down as wind rushed around the main cabin.
Mogadishu airport is heavily fortified and adjoins the capital’s main base of the African Union mission to Somalia, the 22,000-strong force backing the government in the battle against Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab insurgents.
The insurgents have lost ground since being routed from Mogadishu in 2011 but continue to stage regular shooting and suicide attacks. They have launched mortar attacks on the airport compound in the past.
They have made no claim of carrying out a bomb attack on the plane.
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If a company like Pfizer can vaccinate their entire workforce and now starting to vaccinate their families as well, shouldn’t questions be asked why they can’t provide the same service to the Irish taxpayer considering they are looked after handsomely with our low corporate tax rate
@Murph11: Provide the vaccines free ? Favour us over other countries ? Worth remembering as well, those low corporate tax rates provide thousands of workers with well paid jobs, from which the exchequer is looked after handsomely by way of income tax receipts.
@Tommy Roche: I fully understand Tommy. I’m a frontline worker and was classed as such prior to the pandemic. I still have to go out and deal with what I always dealt with and haven’t even been prioritised yet. Just annoys me
@Murph11: honest to god. You might as well ask if Dublin GAA can outfit their whole squads and coaches with gear, why can’t they do it for every Dub?
@Murph11: they have been working extremely hard the last 14 months. A lot of places give their staff perks. This must be one of the best. We’ll done all in Pfizer and thanks. Thanks for the other special pill also !
I do not trust the vaccination go to the fda and its not approved their head has said they will not be approved until fully agreed its safe for everyone, why are our elderly parents in homes who have had their 2 doses of the vaccination not been given their freedom too see and hug their loved ones, why are people who are fully vacanated told to act if they are not we can’t were a mask forever, 99.9 percent of our population have survived we want our life back, to hug to see smiles and breath fresh air love to all
@John Leonard: because people who are vaccinated can still pass the virus on to people who aren’t vaccinated so until enough people are vaccinated things can’t go back to how they were.
Provides less than 5% of irelands vaccines so far. So these people will be waiting
@john s: got my Moderna on Sunday. Haven’t met to many people who have had it. Just a sore arm so far, no mad zombies symptoms as of yet.
@Ann Mc Shane: my sister in the US got it, second dose last week caused some discomfort, shakes, nausea, headache.
Recommendations over there are to take in plenty of water in the two days prior to the second dose.
@Ann Mc Shane: My neighbour in her late 60s got the Moderna. She’s the only one I know who did, but she said she had no side effects at all.
@Derdaly: yeah just a sore arm but to be expected. Supposedly one of the best ones to take
If it was good enough for Dolly Parton, it would be good enough for me.
Not great but better than nothing.
I got it
That’s good re Moderna. Where are the rest of them in this? 1.3 billion people in India and they’re making most vax.
have your say