Eng. / Fr.

Exercise "Idassa 2007" Fictional scenario News Exercise "Idassa 2007" On the coastal town of Zadar, Croatia is hosting a high-profile charity music festival, attended by international personalities and more than half a million guests from all over the world. As a contingency measure, Croatia has requested preliminary international assistance that includes CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) protection teams and a certain number of Search and Rescue (SAR) teams. One day before the festival starts, on May 18 at 20.43, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on the Richter scale hits the southern part of Croatia. The earthquake results in heavy damage to housing, as well as to elements of critical infrastructure of the area. There is damage to the high and low voltage electricity grid, the high-pressure water line, telephone lines and the GSM network. The roads are covered with rockslides and debris from fallen buildings. Railway traffic has been suspended. Due to the earthquake, the charity festival is cancelled. The international Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) and Search and rescue (SAR) teams already in the country are put at the disposal of the Croatian authorities to assist in consequence management. All the guests who arrived for the festival are evacuated to other parts of the country. The Government of Croatia sends a request for international assistance to the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Co-ordination Centre (EADRCC). The request specifies a need for Search and Rescue (SAR) and medical teams, as well as camps for approximately 10,000 displaced people. Notwithstanding the damages to the industrial sea port of Zadar caused by the earthquake, styrene (a toxic liquid material used in the manufacture of plastic and fibreglass) is reloaded from a commercial tanker into tanks in the port. At around 9.30 on May 21st, an undetected crack in the pipeline allows styrene to spill into land and sea. The spill starts spreading towards the sea town of Bibinje. The spill trail also spreads to railway carriages full of petrol in the vicinity and catches fire. Several explosions occur, damaging   industrial facilities in the town of Gaženica. Many workers are poisoned and injured. The toxic cloud starts moving towards Bibinje. In addition, the fire spreads to the ship “Sea star AA”, the commercial carrier of the styrene load, causing an explosion. As a consequence, fuel starts leaking from the ship into the sea, while fire-fighters attempt to put out the fire on the ship. Meanwhile, an airplane flying from Denver via London to Frankfurt is hijacked over Germany. The hijackers from the terrorist group known as the “Black Magic Vixen Union” tell flight control that the airplane is to proceed towards Lime Island in the Indian Ocean. However, due to lack of fuel, the airplane is forced to land on the Zadar airport on May 22nd at approximately 7.30 am. During re-fuelling, Croatian Police Forces manage to overtake the aircraft, finally subduing the hijackers at 8.45 am. Seven hijackers and 30 passengers are injured in this operation.  At 8.50 am,  the an individual claiming to represent the  “Black Magic Vixen Union”  places a call to the Zadar airport authorities informing them that the hijackers have acquired some aggressive biological material that they intend to release into the environment in case the police attempts to take control of the airplane. The individual placing the threat on the phone seems not to be aware that the plane has already been taken over by the Croatian police. The on-site police commander and duty medical officer are immediately informed. As a precautionary measure, they decide to conduct a preliminary medical examination of all passengers and persons in the wider area of the airport, taking into account that contamination with biological agents is difficult to detect rapidly.