Civil defence has explained why certain mobile phone users did not receive Monday’s nationwide CY-Alert test notification, after thousands of devices received a simulated missing person alert as part of the emergency warning system’s latest exercise.

The test message was sent at around 3.10pm and concerned a fictional kidnapping and missing person scenario.

While the notification was delivered to mobile phones across the island, some users reported that they did not receive the alert.

Speaking to Omega, civil defence spokesperson Panayiotis Liasides said the exercise was largely successful, with only a minor technical issue affecting the first message.

“Let’s say that it can be considered a successful mission,” he said.

“The only thing that happened was that in the first message it appeared that the link had a problem with the questionnaire and so we resent a second message where the link was working normally.”

Explaining why some people may have missed the notification, Liasides said several factors could have prevented delivery.

“They may not have had a signal or were in flight mode, or the phone may have been turned off,” he said.

He urged users to review their device settings, ensure software is updated and restart their phones if necessary.

Civil defence said instructions for activating emergency alerts are available through the CY-Alert website and reminded the public that support is also available through the information line 1450.

The nationwide exercise formed part of ongoing testing of the CY-Alert system, which enables authorities to send emergency notifications directly to mobile phones located within affected areas during serious incidents or threats to public safety.

 The message clearly stated that it was a test and required no action from recipients.

Authorities are also examining reports from some users who said the characteristic alert sound was activated despite prior announcements that the test would be conducted without an audible alarm to minimise disruption.