A security incident at Victoria Falls International Airport has prompted the rerouting of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Falcon 7X aircraft back to Harare.

Mnangagwa was scheduled to participate in the concluding event of a conference taking place in the resort town.

According to a statement from presidential spokesperson George Charamba, airport officials were alerted to an email, transmitted via Fastjet Airlines, conveying a “credible bomb/firearm threat” targeting Zimbabwean airports. The sender of the email remains unidentified.

An initial report by online publication ZimLive indicated disruptions in air traffic, with a Kenyan Airways flight from Nairobi being held for several minutes before diverting to Livingstone. President Mnangagwa’s Falcon 7X subsequently returned to Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport. The President’s intended destination was the closing ceremony of a renewable energy conference.

Additionally, another Kenyan Airways flight originating from Nairobi was redirected to Livingstone, Zambia.

As a precautionary measure, certain passengers were temporarily prohibited from disembarking while authorities conducted investigations into the reported threat.