Cairo: To some commentators the sight of a donkey roaming near Cairo airport was a humorous occasion. To others, it was a serious security breach at Egypt’s main airport.
A video showing the animal walking unguided in the car park of the airport’s upscale Terminal 3 went viral, generating sardonic remarks. In the footage, cleaners are seen chasing the animal.
The incident caught the attention of the nation’s most serious talk shows on Monday night. “I don’t know how the donkey reached the airport where there are security checkpoints,” said celebrated TV host Lamees Al Hadidi. “Maybe he was waiting to leave the country,” she added sarcastically on her show This is the Capital on private broadcaster CBC. “Generally speaking, this is a scene you wouldn’t see anywhere but in Egypt,” she said on a serious note.
Ahmad Mousa, another famed TV host, had a more serious take. “This is a sheer shame. Who is responsible for this?” he asked. “The donkey could have been loaded with explosives. Daesh uses such things in carrying out explosions,” he added on the private satellite TV station Sada Al Balad.
Egypt has in recent months seen a surge of attacks targeting civil facilities and blamed on Islamist militants.
It was not clear how the animal had reached the perimeter of the airport on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital. A spokeswoman for Cairo airport, Hanan Abdul Monem, said that authorities had ordered an urgent investigation into the incident.
