JUST IN: Fire outbreak disrupts flight operations Lagos airport

A fire outbreak on Thursday morning disrupted flight operations at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

Confirming the incident, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in a statement issued by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Obiageli Orah, said the fire outbreak led to the diversion of all flight operations from terminal 1 of the airport to the D wing.

According to Orah, the engineers at the airport have disconnected power from the entire E wing of the airport in an attempt to put out the fire.

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Orah, who explained that the outbreak started around 5:29 am, said that smoke which subsequently turned into fire had erupted from the E54 bridge.

Orah stated, “Smoke was detected billowing from the E54 Bridge, leading electrical engineers to immediately cut off power to the entire E Wing.

“The Airport Rescue and Firefighting Services (ARFFS) team was quick to respond, arriving at the scene by 05:30 hrs. Initial suspicions point to sparks from an electrical unit as the cause, but a thorough investigation is ongoing to ascertain the cause of the inferno.

“The incident, which had escalated into a fire, was brought under control by 06:41 hrs. Efforts to ventilate the smoke from the building are in progress. In the meantime, all flight operations in Terminal 1 of MMA have been diverted to the D Wing. More details will follow shortly.”

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It was gathered that the incident sparked tension and panic at the airport, forcing some airport officials and travellers to scamper to safety.

However, a FAAN team and the Airport Rescue and Firefighting Services have restored normalcy at the airport.