|
| Attempt to blow up US airliner foiled |
| Press Trust Of India / Washington Dec 27, 2009, 00:43 IST |
|
A suspected Nigerian Al Qaeda operative today made an attempt to blow up a US Airliner in air, but was over-powered by alert passengers who staved off what could have been a devastating Christmas Day terror attack.
The passenger, Umar Farouk Abdul Mudallab, an engineering student in London, tried to ignite an incendiary device on board the Northwest Airlines flight 253, an Airbus 330, carrying 278 passengers from Amsterdam to Detroit, in what was described as an “attempted act of terrorism” by the White House.
The man, 23, who sustained burn injuries in the failed bid, later reportedly told interrogators that explosive powder was taped to his leg and he used a syringe to inject chemicals into it to cause an explosion on the trans-Atlantic flight.
However, the device mal-functioned and, as smoke and fire erupted from his seat, co-passengers pounced on him and dragged him to the front of the plane with help from the crew.
Two other passengers reported minor injuries, but the plane was able to land safely, the New York Times quoted an anti-terrorism official as saying. The incident has prompted FBI to issue a nationwide red alert.
Muttalab, who is being questioned by FBI and other federal investigative agencies, has reportedly said he had links to Al Qaeda and that he had travelled to Yemen “to collect the incendiary device and instructions on how to use it,” said The Washington Post.
However, an official expressed caution about the claim, saying “it may have been aspirational”.
FBI agents are investigating the incident on the suspicion that it was an attempted act of terrorism, the official said.
Passengers, who later gave an account, said there was panic after fire was seen in the midst of passengers.
Syed Jafry, a US national who had flown from the UAE, said people ran out of their seats to tackle the man.
Jafry told the local FreeP.Com that he was sitting in the 16th row — three rows ahead of the passenger — when he heard “a pop and saw some smoke and fire”. He added: “Then, a young man behind me jumped on him.”
He told the newspaper that there was a little bit of commotion for about 10 to 15 minutes. The incident occurred during the plane’s descent, he added.
“There was a pop that sounded like a firecracker” and the “next thing you know everybody was on him,” he said.
Officials described the device as more “incendiary rather than explosive,” The Post said.
Federal officials said the man wanted to bring the plane down. “This was the real deal,” Congressman Peter T King of New York said, adding: “This could have been devastating”.
Ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, King, who was briefed on the incident, said something had gone wrong with the explosive device, which was “somewhat sophisticated”.
King said there must be investigation into how the Nigerian managed to sneak in such sophisticated device and explosives inside the plane.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
