By Miriam Humbe
Six people were injured and flights temporarily suspended after a fire broke out at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, late Monday afternoon, airport authorities said.
The fire appears to have started in a server room on the first floor of Terminal 1, the Federal Airports Authority of
Nigeria (FAAN) said in a statement.
Three women and three men were wounded, “all of whom are in stable condition,” it said, adding that one person was undergoing a further medical evaluation.
Fourteen people were trapped in the control tower but have since been rescued and evacuated with the help of emergency, fire and security teams, all of which remained on site.
The flames damaged the airport’s departures hall, which was being renovated as part of a large-scale project costing an estimated 712 billion naira ($530 million).
While the incident was largely under control, monitoring operations were continuing, the FAAN said.
The airspace was temporarily closed in line with safety protocols, and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) was working to establish a temporary control tower to restore operations as quickly as possible, according to the FAAN.
An Air France flight that left Paris for Lagos at around 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) turned back to the French capital.
