Travellers and staff were evacuated from Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed Airport, Nigeria’s main air travel hub, on Thursday after a fire broke out in the basement, witnesses said. Thick smoke billowed through the terminal, an AFP correspondent at the scene said, and passengers were ordered out of the building as firefighters arrived on the scene.
The fire brigade appeared to have brought the blaze under control, but by 12 noon (1100 GMT) the terminal had not reopened, three hours after the problem began.
The departure of a Virgin Atlantic airliner due to leave for London was delayed after check-in was suspended and the plane remained on the runway.
Internal flights from the nearby domestic terminal were also disrupted during the incident, but later resumed.
Lagos police spokesperson Emmanuel Ighodalo confirmed the incident, which officials said seemed to have been caused by an electrical fault.
The Nigerian Red Cross said it has sent medical emergency teams to the airport, but there were no initial reports of casualties.
Lagos airport was once notorious among international travellers for chaotic management and crime, but services and safety have been greatly improved since the end of military rule in 1999. – Sapa-AFP