A radiological emergency sensitisation mock drill carried out at the domestic cargo building of the airport here on Friday kept everyone on tenterhooks.
‘Radiation source leakage and fire near the Airport Authority of India’s cargo manager office’ was the scenario for the drill and the agencies concerned were alerted as per the airport emergency plan.
The airport rescue and fire services team was the first to respond, which ‘extinguished’ the fire and ‘rescued’ four persons. Subsequently, an National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team with radiation detectors ‘earmarked’ the hot and warm zones.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) ‘cordoned off’ the warm zone and the Kerala Police ‘managed’ the crowd. The NDRF search team ‘identified’ the source and the recovery team ‘secured’ the radioactive source.
Authorities also ‘initiated’ the decontamination process. The medical team from the airport was also involved in the drill.
The mock drill was part of the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) five-day training programmes on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergency management for airport emergency handlers. The programme was held in coordination with the Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences, NDRF and AAI.