President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe. (Maxim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
- A plane carrying the president of Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls flipped in mid-air after receiving a bomb threat.
- An email sent to FastJet claimed there were terrorists targeting air traffic.
- Many other flights were diverted to Livingstone, Zambia.
A Falcon 7X plane carrying Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa aborted its flight to Victoria Falls after receiving a bomb threat and made an emergency mid-air U-turn to return to Harare.
Mr Mnangagwa was scheduled to formally open the 56th session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca), bringing together finance ministers from across the continent.
He was also scheduled to speak at the Southern Africa International Renewable Energy Conference and Expo to be held at the resort.
The government said in a statement that the president was “forced to suspend travel to allow for an investigation that has already begun.”
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, a retired army general, had to replace Mnangagwa.
The government said FastJet had notified the Zimbabwe Airports Authority that it had received an email from John Doe alleging a “credible/bomb gun threat” targeting Zimbabwean airports.
“Following the message, we have put the country's security system on high alert as a precautionary measure, and we are also investigating its source and authenticity,” George Charamba, deputy cabinet secretary, said in a statement.
Victoria Falls Airport has come alive thanks to Uneca.
A Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi was forced to wait several minutes before being diverted to Livingstone, Zambia.
The Ethiopian Airlines flight diverted to Ndola, Zambia, then bypassed Victoria Falls and landed in Bulawayo.
Ann Email This information, shared by local online publication ZimLive, was sent to FastJet by the aforementioned “John Doe”, claiming that a terrorist attack was planned in Victoria Falls.
In an email, “John Doe” claimed that “armed colleagues and bombs” were already in Victoria Falls and had withdrawn from a planned attack.
History of security fears
Since coming to power in a coup in 2017, Mnangagwa has shaved his face numerous times.
Mr Mnangagwa survived a bomb explosion at the White City Stadium in Bulawayo during the run-up to the 2018 general elections, the first since the ouster of the late Robert Mugabe.
The explosion occurred shortly after he descended from the podium, accompanied by his deputy Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, and other party leaders.
No one was reported, but Mnangagwa said it was an assassination attempt.
Forty-one people, including Mohadi, were injured.
In December 2017, Guthrie Chiredozero was stopped by security guards controlling traffic on his way to King George VI, where the president was planning to rename the military barracks in Harare.
Two days earlier, Chirezero sneaked into State House where Mnangagwa was swearing in ministers.
He created a fake national security ID card to gain access and took up a position near where the president was scheduled to sit.
In another incident a few weeks later, at a rally in Gweru, Moses Mavusa, a failed Zanu PF primary candidate, asked a friend to take a photo before jumping onto the stage and forcibly shaking hands with the president. did.
He was taken away by state security authorities.
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