The wreckage of the Bandeirante was strewn about the
Santa Rita Mountains near Colón. Panamanian investigators quickly determined that the explosion had been caused by a bomb, probably detonated by a
suicide bomber aboard the aircraft. Only one body was not claimed by relatives; this body is believed to be that of a man named Jamal Lya. Officials suspected that the incident was an act of terrorism by
Hezbollah directed against Jews in part because it took place one day after the
AMIA bombing in
Buenos Aires, and due to an expression of support by "
Ansar Allah", a Hezbollah affiliate in South America.
Later developments seeking information poster about Jamal In 2018, the President of Panama
Juan Carlos Varela said "recent evidence" and intelligence reports "clearly show it was a terrorist attack," and that he would ask local and international authorities to reopen the investigation. The
FBI have in its investigations identified the perpetrator to have been a passenger named Ali Hawa Jamal. ==See also==