The Kenya Airports Authority has come out to speak about the heavy police and ambulance presence and at terminal 2 of JKIA.
The communications department clarified to Kenyans.co.ke that the reported explosion was part of a drill to test the effectiveness of the disaster response unit at the airport.
A tweet from the authority stated, "Jambo, we would like to confirm that this morning we conducted a full-scale security drill at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport."
The drill mimicked an explosion incident and a potential security incident; injured “passengers,” smoking objects and terminal evacuations also played a part in the airport’s comprehensive drill.
It took approximately two months to prepare for the exercise & involved the participation of all airport agencies & stakeholders.
The exercise sparked concerns from netizens who raised alarm on social media over the heavy presence of General Service Unit officers at the airport.
There were also reports of many ambulances heading towards the airport which invited onlookers to think that a blast had indeed occurred.
All airports under ICAO regulations are obligated to do such drills once every three years to put to task their level of preparedness & security standards.
The operation did not result in any casualties and no damages were reported.
This will go a long way in making the airport a secure and trusted in terms of its capacity to handle any eventualities.
