The visiting South African cricket team apologised on Thursday to the Bangladesh authority for using a drone during a practice session in Dhaka that breached national security and general safety regulations. Bangladesh cricket authorities ordered a halt to use of the drone which had been taking photos of the South African players during the Proteas’ first training on Wednesday. ‘The Proteas’ behind-the-scenes TV crew brought the drone over to try and obtain creative views and images to use for our YouTube channel,’ team manager Mohammed Moosajee said. ‘We were unaware of the strict security protocols with regards to the Bangladesh airspace and have subsequently stopped using the device. ‘We do apologise to the Bangladesh military and security forces for any inconvenience this may have caused,’ he said. Officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board were taken by a surprise when they saw the device overhead, controlled on the ground by a South Africa team official.
‘South Africa team has been told that the drone camera cannot be used because of certain restrictions. We are really happy that they’ve taken it in true spirit,’ said a BCB official, preferring to be unnamed.
BCB officials said the country’s civil aviation authority last December banned all unmanned aerial vehicles in its airspace without prior permission for national security as well as general safety reasons.
South Africa arrived in Bangladesh this week to play two Twenty20 internationals, three one-day internationals and two Tests against the home side.
The series starts with the first Twenty20 international on July 5 in Dhaka.
-With New Age input
