News of: Saturday, December 26 2009,
Yesterday, a Nigerian man tried to ignite explosives during a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, just before landing.
The White House in Washington believes it was a terrorist attack, to blow up the plane. Although there was a small explosion, the attempt failed. A fire broke out, but passengers could extinguish it.
The Nigerian man was subdued quickly by airplane staff and with the help of another passenger.
The man says he acted on behalf of Al Qaeda, but it is not certain whether this is true. His name is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and he is a student at University College in London.
Security measures have been stepped up on all incoming flights into the US. All bags of all passengers will be searched, and everyone will be body searched. The measures also apply to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
It is not clear how the Nigerian man could have brought explosives into the plane. Abdulmutallab says he got the explosives from Yemen, as well as his instructions. He was coming from Lagos, Nigeria, transferring on Schiphol Airport, so he did not go through customs in Amsterdam. He spent 3 hours on Schiphol, where he did not leave the transit area. There are rumours on the internet that security on the Lagos airport is weak.
The Nigerian man was taken into custody, and is being treated for burns.
