Explosives of the same type as found on alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid were discovered on a Moroccan jet after passengers left the flight at an airport in eastern France, authorities said Thursday.
There was no detonator attached to the explosives discovered in the passenger section of a Royal Air Maroc airplane on Wednesday night after it landed at the Metz-Nancy-Lorraine airport, according to police.
Judicial sources, according to AP, identified the explosive material as pentrite and said it was the same as the substance Reid, a British citizen, allegedly tried to detonate on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22.
The explosives found Wednesday were wrapped in aluminum foil, police said, indicating it might have been in transit for delivery.
Royal Air Maroc said French investigators told the company that the quantity - around 100 grams - of explosives was too small to pose a risk. "At this stage of the inquiry being conducted by Moroccan and French authorities it's not possible to offer any serious theories about the origin or the purpose of the material on board the aircraft," the company said. (Albawaba.com)
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