JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 22 — South African police on Wednesday activated a multidisciplinary response team following a reported bomb threat involving an aircraft at King Phalo Airport in KuGompo City, formerly known as East London, in the Eastern Cape Province.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Nobuntu Gantana said the police received an anonymous call alleging that a bomb was aboard an aircraft that had landed at the airport. Gantana said that all 184 passengers on board had safely disembarked. The aircraft was being held at the airport as authorities followed standard security procedures. The response team includes the South African Police Service (SAPS) Bomb Disposal Unit, K9 explosive detection dogs, hostage negotiators, disaster management officials, airport security personnel and emergency medical services, she added. “The scene is being managed by the relevant authorities, and investigations into the origin of the threat are ongoing,” Gantana told Xinhua, adding that further details would be released in an official statement alongside Airports Company South Africa, the entity responsible for managing the airport. According to South African airline FlySafair, the aircraft was operating flight FA388 from Johannesburg to KuGompo City. It said the aircraft landed safely at King Phalo Airport at 8:49 a.m. local time (0649 GMT) and that all passengers had disembarked. The airline said the flight had 182 passengers and six crew members, a figure that differs from the 184 passengers cited by SAPS. FlySafair said it was cooperating with the authorities and that the aircraft was being held as part of standard security protocols, adding that there had been no flight cancellations as a result of the incident and that its other operations were continuing as normal.
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