LONDON: Sussex Police insist investigations into drone sightings around London's Gatwick Airport are ongoing despite a comment from a senior detective that there may not have been any drones flying over the airport after all.
The drone crisis led to a series of shutdowns at the country's second-busiest airport over a three-day period last week at, which left tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded at the height of the Christmas travel season.
The airport was operating normally Monday, but military equipment remains in place to deter and track any fresh incursions.
In a statement on Twitter late Sunday, police said 67 drone sightings had been made by the public, passengers, police officers as well as staff at the airport, which is about 30 miles (45 kilometers) south of London.
Police said: "We have recovered a damaged drone, we're conducting house to house enquiries & taking statements from all who reported sightings."
The clarification was deemed necessary after Sussex Chief Detective Jason Tingley raised eyebrows — and drew wide criticism in the British press — when he said it's a "possibility" that there had not been drones in the area at all.
He was referring to the fact that the reported drone sightings came from human beings, not from electronic tracking equipment that could provide independent verification.
Nonetheless, the prospect that a travel breakdown that stranded or delayed more than 100,000 passengers might have been based on mistaken reports of drone activity caused widespread consternation.
Police were also criticized for arresting a man and a woman in connection to the drone flights and then releasing them without any charge after their names and photos had been published in many newspapers.
It is not clear whether the damaged drone discovered near Gatwick Airport will provide forensic clues that could lead police to locate the perpetrators of the worst reported drone activity to hit a major international airport.
Police say it was found in the area near where the last drone sighting occurred on Friday evening. The drone is being tested for DNA, fingerprints, and other evidence.
Police say Gatwick drones probe ongoing
Police say Gatwick drones probe ongoing
- The drone crisis led to a series of shutdowns at the country's second-busiest airport
South African diamond mining company says 5 trapped miners presumed dead and files for liquidation
- The incident occurred in the early hours of Feb. 17 at the Ekapa Mine in Kimberley
- “This marks the end of 158 years of continuous diamond mining in Kimberley,” CEO Jahn Hohne said
JOHANNESBURG: Five miners who were trapped last week after a mudslide flooded a shaft remain unaccounted for and are “now presumed deceased,” the owners of the diamond mining company in South Africa said Wednesday, announcing that it had filed for liquidation and shut the mine.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Feb. 17 at the Ekapa Mine in Kimberley, the capital of Northern Cape province, when a sudden surge of water, mud and rock in minutes inundated an underground section of the mine, blocking access to its lowest mining level, around 800 meters (half a mile) underground.
The mine owners, Ekapa Resources and Ekapa Minerals, said despite rescue efforts that included drilling and assessments by specialist teams conditions were confirmed to be unsurvivable as tunnels were filled with mud and water with no signs of life. A search operation is ongoing.
At the same time, the owners announced the immediate closure of the mine where the incident occurred and petitioned the courts to be placed in liquidation.
The decision came after an internal evaluation found that, given the protracted worldwide diamond market downturn, exacerbated by the recent tragedy, the company is unable to continue meeting its financial responsibilities, it said.
“This marks the end of 158 years of continuous diamond mining in Kimberley,” CEO Jahn Hohne said in a statement. “A legacy the company acknowledges with humility and respect.”
The National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa (Numsa), considered the largest single trade union in South Africa, told the state broadcaster it was “shocked” by the move, which puts the jobs of about 1,200 workers at risk. The union said it would be meeting with its legal teams to discuss a course of action to possibly block the liquidation.
“The situation is very devastating,” Numsa Kimberley organizer Lerato Mohatlane told the SABC. “If the mine is indeed liquidated, it is clear that all the 1,200 workers will then lose their jobs.”
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said it is set to meet with the firm and be briefed on what has transpired and ways forward.
South Africa is among the world’s biggest producers of diamonds and gold, and the top producer of platinum.
