An airport in southern Iraq announced on Wednesday that it was going to review its security measures: following crossing seven checkpoints without being worried, a ten-year-old boy was able to board a plane alone.
The incident occurred Monday evening at the airport of Najaf, a large Shiite city in southern Iraq which receives hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world each year.
An investigation is underway to clarify the circumstances that allowed a child to go to the airport and board a plane, the director of Najaf International Airport told AFP.
The 10-year-old boy ‘managed to get through seven airport checkpoints to get to a plane’, he said.
‘He arrived at the airport at 9:30 p.m. on Monday. At around 02:00 on Tuesday, following boarding an Iran Air plane, he was reported to us by the flight attendants,’ he said.
Neighbor home
The parents of the child, who live in a neighborhood adjoining the airport, had reported his disappearance to the police, according to a security source who did not specify the reasons for which the boy would have wanted to take the plane.
‘Commissions of inquiry’ are seeking to determine the circumstances of the incident, Mr Ahmed said, adding that ‘all those who have failed in their duties will be sanctioned, fired or transferred’.
Once the investigation is completed, “new procedures will be developed to preserve order and security at the airport and travelers,” Mr. Ahmed had previously announced in a statement.
“Even if the child was able to cross the controls, his entry did not constitute a danger, since he was subjected to all the searches”, he assured. ‘The boy was able to go through all these stages because he had mixed with the crowd of travellers,’ it says.
Najaf International Airport is one of the most important in Iraq. The city, home to the mausoleum of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, is one of the holiest places in Shiite Islam.
In 2019, before the pandemic, 2.5 million travelers passed through this airport, according to official figures.
/ATS
