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Oxygen cylinder could be cause of plane explosion

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-27 19:13

MANILA  -- An Australian official investigating the mid-air explosion of a Qantas Boeing 747 plane said on Sunday an oxygen cylinder could be the cause of the explosion.

Related readings:  Experts say no bomb in Qantas jet hole  Qantas flight makes emergency landing

Neville Blyth, an official of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said at a press conference here that one of the cylinders which provided back-up oxygen was missing from the plane.

But he said it was still too early to say this was the cause of the explosion.

The Qantas Boeing 747 with over 366 passengers and crew members, which was flying from Hong Kong to Melbourne, made an emergency landing at the Manila international airport Friday after an explosion of unknown origin ripped open a hole in its belly near the fuselage.

No one was wounded in the incident.