Detroit Attack: Flight 253 Attacked By Terrorist
Detroit attacked by a suspected terrorist who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound transatlantic flight yesterday with 278 passengers before he was subdued, U.S. officials said. The passenger was attempting to destroy the plane with an explosive device, said Peter King of New York, the top Republican on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.
White House officials said President Barack Obama is treating the incident as an attempted terrorist attack. King identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad of Nigeria.
The incident on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport “definitely appears to be al-Qaeda related,” King said in an interview. “This was not a firecracker. This was for real.” Obama called for “all appropriate measures to be taken to increase security” after the suspected attack, the White House said in a statement. The Department of Homeland Security said passengers may notice additional screening at airports. The suspect, who was taken into custody in Detroit, told authorities that the device was acquired in Yemen along with instructions on when it was to be used, CNN reported, citing a federal security bulletin. The passenger was taken to a hospital to be treated for burns, the cable news network said. The fire from the explosion was large enough to require a fire extinguisher, CNN said, citing interviews with passengers.The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Detroit is leading the probe, said spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold, a review that includes indentifying the material used by the suspect. Susan Elliott, a spokeswoman for Northwest parent Delta Air Lines Inc., said earlier that the suspect had firecrackers.
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