{UAH} Sudanese VP in Entebbe airport escalator mishap
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9:25 PM |
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Folks;
It seems nothing is functioning properly for any given period of time in Uganda lately!
Here, we have an escalator in the VIP lounge of Entebbe airport that suddenly stops, and starts running in reverse, while carrying visiting Sudanese Vice President.
Every escalator has a manual UP and DOWN switch at the base or start of the escalator, and another switch at the opposite site. It's possible that some one in this group accidentally touched that switch.
But give it to Ugandan police: they arrested two hapless night duty electricians for questioning, as if they could have remotely controlled the escalator. If this VIP had tripped on the floor instead, would police have rounded up by the janitors?
Pojim
Sudanese VP in Entebbe Airport escalator mishap
Publish Date: Feb 11, 2015
Publish Date: Feb 11, 2015
Hasabo was on a state visit
By Steven Candia
An escalator at the VIP lounge at Entebbe International Airport on Sunday night experienced a malfunction while in motion as Sudanese vice-president (VP) Mohammed Abdalla Hasabo and his delegation were ascending to the lounge.
None of the delegates, including a Ugandan minister who received the visiting VP, was hurt in the scary and embarrassing incident, which raised questions of safety at the facility.
Consequently, two electricians on night duty at the lounge were picked and briefly detained by the aviation Police for questioning over the embarrassing incident.
"The escalator went in reverse as the VIP were ascending. We wanted to know why it (escalator) failed at that time when we had the guests. Our interest was to establish whether the incident was due to power failure or some other reasons," Awita Lodovico, the Police commandant of aviation security, said.
He, however, added that the two electricians, whose identities we could not immediately establish, were set free after it emerged that the incident was triggered off by a technical and not an electrical problem. However, Awita maintained that the probe continues.
Sources said the escalator has perennially been dogged with problems, prompting the authorities to, at one point, stop its use until the problem is fixed. It was repaired and operations resumed until the unfortunate incident on Sunday.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Ignie Igundura on Tuesday described the incident as very unfortunate.
"Someone inadvertently must have switched off the system and then turned it one shortly before the delegates arrived. As such, at the time the incident occurred, it had not gained sufficient power," Igundura said.
On reports that the escalator suffers repeated problems, he said it is always under maintenance.
"All our equipment have a maintenance roster and are regularly maintained," he said.
An escalator at the VIP lounge at Entebbe International Airport on Sunday night experienced a malfunction while in motion as Sudanese vice-president (VP) Mohammed Abdalla Hasabo and his delegation were ascending to the lounge.
None of the delegates, including a Ugandan minister who received the visiting VP, was hurt in the scary and embarrassing incident, which raised questions of safety at the facility.
Consequently, two electricians on night duty at the lounge were picked and briefly detained by the aviation Police for questioning over the embarrassing incident.
"The escalator went in reverse as the VIP were ascending. We wanted to know why it (escalator) failed at that time when we had the guests. Our interest was to establish whether the incident was due to power failure or some other reasons," Awita Lodovico, the Police commandant of aviation security, said.
He, however, added that the two electricians, whose identities we could not immediately establish, were set free after it emerged that the incident was triggered off by a technical and not an electrical problem. However, Awita maintained that the probe continues.
Sources said the escalator has perennially been dogged with problems, prompting the authorities to, at one point, stop its use until the problem is fixed. It was repaired and operations resumed until the unfortunate incident on Sunday.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Ignie Igundura on Tuesday described the incident as very unfortunate.
"Someone inadvertently must have switched off the system and then turned it one shortly before the delegates arrived. As such, at the time the incident occurred, it had not gained sufficient power," Igundura said.
On reports that the escalator suffers repeated problems, he said it is always under maintenance.
"All our equipment have a maintenance roster and are regularly maintained," he said.
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