A Nigerian man believed to be linked to al-Qaida militants was in custody Saturday after he tried to ignite an explosive device on a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit, Reuters reported, quoting U.S. officials.
The suspect, who suffered extensive burns, was overpowered by passengers and crew on the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam. The passengers, two of whom suffered minor injuries, disembarked safely from the Delta Air Lines plane.
"We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism," a White House official told Reuters.
British police were searching premises in central London Saturday in connection with the incident. The man was believed to have spent time in Britain as a student and authorities were trying to establish details about his activities in the country, a British counter-terrorism source said.
European airports meanwhile tightened security checks on U.S.-bound flights in response to the failed attack.
Dutch counter-terrorism authorities said they were trying to figure out where the suspect had come from, how he had been screened and how he had managed to board the flight.
Northwest Airlines flight 253 had left Amsterdam airport on Friday with 278 passengers onboard and was approaching its destination Detroit when the man tried to ignite the device or mixture, U.S. officials said.
Representative Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the explosive device was "fairly sophisticated," and the suspect was a 23-year-old Nigerian.
Federal officials identified him as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, according to U.S. newspapers. ABC News and NBC News reported that he attends University College London, where he studied engineering.
King told CNN the suspect was listed in a database as having a connection to militants.
"My understanding is...that he does have al-Qaida connections, certainly extremist terrorist connections, and his name popped up pretty quickly" in a search.
"I would say we dropped the ball on this one."
King said the suspect started his journey in Nigeria.
The Nigerian government ordered security agencies to investigate the incident and said they would cooperate fully with the American authorities.