Passengers, airport workers injured in JKIA security drill

A number of airport workers and several passengers were injured on Thursday during a full-scale security drill at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) said the drill involved an anonymous caller making a phone call to the call centre informing them that an explosive was about to go off at the airport.

The said caller then hang up and after 30 minutes, an explosion went off at Terminal 2, causing airport workers on duty and passengers to scamper for safety.

“An anonymous caller calls the (PABX) at around 10.15 A.M informing them that an explosive has been planted at M- Station adjacent to the police station and is expected to go off anytime and hanged up. At 10.45 A.M an explosion went off at Terminal 2 injuring Airport workers on duty and passengers,” said KAA.

According to the airports authority, all airports are obligated to do such drills once every three years to put to task their level of preparedness and security standards.

“It took approximately 2 months to prepare for the exercise and involved the participation of all airport agencies and stakeholders,” said KAA.

Objectives of the exercise, which KAA says took two months to prepare, include testing the communication, coordination and command systems at the airport.