Zimbabwe ‘plane crash’ just drill !
06.08.10
There were chaotic scenes at Zimbabwe's Harare International Airport after a safety drill was reported by the head of country's aviation authority as a real accident involving a plane arriving from London.
David Chawota, Zimbabwe's Civil Aviation Authority head, initially told reporters that a plane arriving from London had been involved in an accident. But a spokeswoman later told the BBC it was a drill, that distressed ‘relatives’ were ‘actors’ and the inaccurate press briefings were part of the drill !
When reports of an incident first surfaced, Mr Chawota told the AFP news agency: ‘I can confirm that a 767 plane coming from London has had an accident at Harare airport.' He then told Reuters: ‘I can confirm there has been an accident, but I cannot give details. I am not at the site, but there are just injuries, no deaths.’
But at a press conference at the airport later, he said the misinformation was part of the drill ! He said: ‘Telling the media was part of the exercise. We wanted to see how the media would react. The drill was a success because all our systems worked perfectly. Police, security and hospital staff reacted swiftly.’ We will leave it to you to decide whether you believe him.
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