Safety alerts issued on Friday in Abu Dhabi and Dubai that appeared to advise people about a missile threat were promptly followed by another message telling the public to disregard the warning.
The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (Ncema) issued a clarification on social media that the alerts were sent out due to a “technical malfunction”.
“Sudden technical malfunction in the early warning system, which occurred this Friday evening, resulted in the sending of incorrect warning messages,” Ncema wrote on X, before adding that the glitch had been addressed.
“The specialised teams immediately initiated the necessary corrective procedures upon detecting the issue, in accordance with approved plans to ensure service continuity and minimise any potential impact on users.
“The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority and the relevant entities apologise for this unintentional technical malfunction and extend their sincere thanks and appreciation to members of the community for their understanding and co-operation during the response period.”
The first alert by the Ministry of Interior urged people to immediately seek a safe place and stay away from windows, doors and open areas owing to a missile threat.
“Due to the current situation, potential missile threats, immediately seek a safe place in the closest secure building, steer away from windows, doors and open areas. Await further instruction,” the alert said.
This was followed by another alert thanking people for their co-operation and offering reassurances that the situation was currently safe. A third message followed asking people to “please disregard the previous warning”.
