Exactly. And this made me wonder if there was an uncontained engine failure that started things off. Could bits of hot flying turbine parts could have ignited the center fuel tank and also created the outward hull punctures as they emerged from the other side? I would think that a catastrophic failure would also sound like a big bang on the CVR.
If there was a large uncontained LH engine compressor failure, all the compressor parts flown out at high speeds and fan separated at the event, then it would be difficult to explain sooting and charring of fan that lies only some 20 or 30 meters away from the engine. There was also a comment by one russian expert exploring LH engine rear part about melted non aluminium metal. Then most probably - loose fan hitting fuselage at right point - fuselage would have been broken in half before wings.
It is most probable that the engine got damaged in the falling phase, still attached and working by ingesting flames from fire.
Left side of the forward fuselage have marks of inflight fire and sooting up to the nose cone.