Passengers - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

Australian pilot, two passengers released from brief kidnap in Papua New Guinea

AN Australian helicopter pilot and two local workers were released unharmed in Papua New Guinea within hours of being kidnapped at gunpoint in the remote highlands, police said, following negotiations with security forces. The three had landed at a remote telecoms site near Mount Sisa in the province of Hela when an armed group took them away, David Manning, the police commissioner of Papua New Guinea, said in a statement. But they were released safe and unharmed after large numbers of security personnel responded and negotiated with the group through local leaders, he added in a subsequent statement, without further…

Oct

2023

By MANUEL SILVESTRI

At least 21 dead after Italian bus carrying tourists falls from Venice overpass

WORLD

AT least 21 people died on Tuesday and 18 were injured after a bus carrying tourists to a campground crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy and caught fire, city officials said. The bus veered off the road and fell close to railway lines in the district of Mestre, which is connected to Venice by a bridge. The cause of the accident was unclear. Venice city councillor Renato Boraso said one line of enquiry was that the driver, a 40-year-old Italian who was among those killed, had been taken ill before the crash. "It's an appalling tragedy, the…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Algeria plans strict health measures

COVID-19

ALGERIA will impose strict health measures on passengers when it partially resumes international flights next month, the prime minister's office said yesterday. The North African country last week said it would reopen air borders on June 1, but with only five flights a day from and to three local airports. Passengers must have a negative result for COVID-19 from an RT-PCR test dated less than 36 hours before the date of travel to Algeria, the prime minister's office said. All passengers would be quarantined for five days in hotels at their expense, and the quarantine would be extended to 10…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

New tougher rules in Egypt

COVID-19

EGYPT will require all visitors arriving from "countries where variants of the virus have appeared" to take a rapid COVID-19 test upon arrival, its health ministry said in a statement. The statement did not specify the countries from which passengers would take the 15-minute DNA test, called ID NOW. Egypt's new coronavirus cases have been steadily rising in recent weeks. On Saturday it reported 1,125 new cases and 65 deaths, although experts say that reflects only a fraction of total cases. In a statement on Saturday, Egypt's tourism ministry clarified that restaurants and coffee shops attached to hotels were exempt…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria to bar those who flout COVID-19 test rules from flying

COVID-19

NIGERIA will bar passengers who fail to follow the country's COVID-19 protocol from flying for six months, according to an official. Passengers returning to Nigeria are currently required to test for COVID-19 both before they board return flights and seven days after they arrive. They also must pay for the tests in advance. Dr Sani Aliyu, coordinator of Nigeria's COVID-19 task force, said 60% of those who pre-paid for tests had failed to show up for them. "These passengers will not be allowed to travel for a period of six months," Aliyu said. "We hope that we do not need…