Somali plane lands with huge hole in its side after 'explosion'

Video report by ITV News' Faye Barker

A passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Somalia with a huge hole in its side after an explosion and fire ripped through the aircraft.

But officials at Somalia's civil aviation authority say they have found no evidence so far of a criminal act, according to the Associated Press.

Here's what we know.

• What happened?

The hole in the plane's fuselage appeared shortly after take-off on Tuesday.

It was forced to turn around and land back at Mogadishu’s international airport.

• What caused it?

The pilot claimed a bomb had blown the hole in the fuselage shortly after take-off from Mogadishu’s international airport on Tuesday.

Vladimir Vodopivec, 64, was quoted by a Serbian media outlet as saying: “I think it was a bomb.

“Luckily, the flight controls were not damaged so I could return and land at the airport. Something like this has never happened in my flight career - we lost pressure in the cabin. Thank God it ended well.”

Passengers also claimed to have heard a "bang"

"I don't know if it was a bomb or an electric shock, but we heard a bang inside the plane," Mohamed Ali told The Associated Press.

Somalia faces an insurgency from the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, who have carried out a string of deadly attacks.

• Was anyone hurt?

Two people suffered minor injuries and 74 passengers were evacuated from the plane after it landed safely.

It was not clear whether all those on board had been accounted for amid reports that a passenger was thrown from the plane during the incident.

Residents in a nearby town found the body of an old man who might have fallen from a plane, according to a police officer.