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By Chinelo Obogo
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on Monday, confirmed a fire outbreak at Terminal 1 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Though details of the cause of the fire are unknown, the Authority said firefighting units actively worked to contain and extinguish the blaze, while coordinated evacuation procedures have been carried out to ensure the safe exit of passengers and airport staff from the affected area.
FAAN said a crane was successfully deployed to support rescue operations at the Control Tower, adding that 14 persons initially trapped were safely rescued and fully evacuated from the facility. The incident forced the authorities to temporarily shut down the control tower as the inferno spread.
Six persons, comprising three males and three females, were injured and FAAN said they are in stable condition.
One affected individual has been transferred to the FAAN Headquarters Hospital for further medical evaluation but remains stable.
“As an additional safety precaution, the sixth floor of the affected facility has been completely evacuated to support ongoing emergency operations and risk mitigation,” FAAN said.
The Authority added that preliminary findings from the Fire Service indicate that the fire originated from the server room on the first floor of Terminal One. “The fire within the departure hall is now largely under control, while responders continue close monitoring to prevent any spread to adjoining sections of the terminal. In line with established safety protocols, the airspace remains temporarily closed,” FAAN said.
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Speaking at the site of the incident, the Managing Director of FAAN, Olubunmi Kuku said: “The fire has affected some of our operations. We did have about three flights that were diverted.
However, the operations will be back up and running in the next half an hour. In terms of investigations, they are ongoing.
“There’s a standard procedure that we follow when it comes to emergencies. We activated that procedure. If you go into the Emergency Operations Centre, you will see them there. We do not want to destabilise them at this time.
“Within the area where we believe the fire started, there was nothing happening at that time. Rather, what we did was to have people who were sort of moving things out, because you do know that there’s a major renovation coming up. There are renovations happening within the airport premises.
“British Airways, Lufthansa and Emirates were diverted. However, for travelling passengers, please note that in the next half an hour, our operations will be back up and running. So, it’s okay to come into the airport if you have flight operations in the next couple of hours or in the next couple of days.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) said it is actively working to establish a temporary Control Tower to enable the safe and timely restoration of airport operations as soon as practicable.
