Gaping hole in side of plane after 'explosion'

A passenger reported hearing a "loud explosion inside the plane". Photo / Twitter Omar Nor

Shocking photos and video footage have emerged of a plane after an explosion caused a fire on board minutes after take-off, and left a huge hole in the side of the plane.

According to the Daily Mail, Daallo Airlines Flight D3159 was en route to Djibouti from Somalia when a loud bang was heard five minutes into the ascent and flames appeared near the engine.

The plane turned around and landed in Mogadishu in flames.

A huge hole could be seen around a window seat. Two people are reported to have been injured.

An airport official said the pilot reported one of the two engines caught fire soon after take-off.

One passenger told Traveller 24 they "heard a loud explosion inside the plane, followed by flames that lit up one side of it".

Emergency services met the plane upon landing and the fire was extinguished.

Somali security forces are now investigating.

Less than an hour after a local news site reported the explosion, Twitter posts said locals from a town near Bal'ad, about 35km northwest of Mogadishu, said they had seen a severely burned body fall from an unidentified plane.

It is not known if the two incidents are related.

- nzherald.co.nz