Fire guts section of Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal 1 Lagos

Fire gutted a part of the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Wednesday morning.

Report say the section affected was the primary gateway and suspected to have started from a faulty cable on the Tarmac.

There are speculations from eyewitness that the fire burnt a section of the administrative office of FAAN Tuesday night

The incident has affected some operations and passengers and airport personnel have been evacuated from the building.

“Passengers on MMA Terminal 1 are unable to undergo immigration processing due to network complications,” said Morris Monye on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Consequently, all passengers are currently unable to proceed with their travel plans. This is as a result of a fire incident that occurred earlier this morning, which has been successfully extinguished.

“Regrettably, passengers cannot be processed at present, causing considerable dissatisfaction among them.”

Firefighters were quickly mobilised to contain the outbreak. According to Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, “All passengers and staff were asked to evacuate the building while the Lagos State Fire service was on hand to complement that of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).”

Reacting to the incident in a statement, Abdullahi Yakubu-Funtua, director of public affairs and consumer protection at FAAN, said a burning lithium inverter battery installation was the cause of the fire.

“At approximately 0723 hours this morning, a suspected electrical spark at the baggage hall ceiling caused the smoke incident that was reported at Terminal 1 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, located in Ikeja, Lagos,” the statement reads.

“The source of the smoke was identified as burning lithium inverter battery installation at the basement.

“Promptly responding to the situation at 0730hrs, the dedicated fire-fighters from the aerodrome rescue and fire fighting services of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and the electrical department of the FAAN, initiated immediate action.”