DETROIT: A young Nigerian man with reported links to Al-Qaeda tried to blow up a US airliner as it began its descent into Detroit before being subdued by passengers and crew, officials said.

Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was badly burned in the Christmas Day terror attack as he tried to set off a sophisticated explosive device on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam with 278 passengers on board, witnesses said.

“There was a pop. And everybody got a little bit startled. And then we looked around and saw nothing,” recalled Syed Jafry, who was sitting three rows behind the Nigerian.

“After a few seconds or so, then there was a little bit of light, a little bit of — kind of flameish light and there was fire. And people began to panic almost,” he told CNN. “And everybody was rushing towards that area and tried to get water, a blanket and fire extinguisher.” A Montreal woman said she feared for her life. “The man was on fire and the flames were so high, they almost hit the roof of the plane,” Shama Chopra told The Montreal Gazette. “I thought we were all gone. Thank God, somehow the plane landed.” Several passengers said a man had tackled the would-be bomber, who was then dragged to the front of the plane by the cabin crew and isolated.

After being taken into custody, Abdulmutallab told the authorities that he had used a syringe filled with chemicals to mix with powder taped to his leg, according to senior officials quoted anonymously by US media. White House officials and US lawmakers confirmed that the incident was a terror attack and President Barack Obama ordered security measures to be stepped up at airports.

“We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” a senior White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

After a conference call with top security advisors, Obama “instructed that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel,” the White House said.

Eight years after British-born “shoe bomber” Richard Reid tried something similar on a flight from Paris to Miami, the latest botched attack served as a grim reminder to Americans of the specter of air-borne terror. It was also Christmas week in 2001 when Reid tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jet by lighting explosives in his shoes.