ANOTHER fire disaster averted at Lagos airport as smoke fills departure hall

Barely nine days after a heavy fire consumed some critical parts of the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), what would have been another fire disaster was averted at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Thursday morning.

This time around, the departure hall of the international wing of the airport was engulfed in heavy smoke due to an electrical spark coming from an eatery at the airport, Pastry.

A source close to the scene of the incident told our correspondent that the spark occurred at 5:30 a.m in the morning and it took the intervention of the firefighters from FAAN to extinguish the smoke.

The electrical department staff of the airport were also quickly called upon to check the source of the spark, but as at the time of publication, the reason for the spark could not be ascertained.

The heavy spoke enveloped most parts of the departure hall for several minutes until the firefighters used their fire extinguishers to put the smoke under control and prevented it from turning into another fire disaster.

“We just fear that this airport will eventually go up in flames one day as it happened to the administrative office of FAAN about two weeks ago. We can’t continue like this. I think something more urgent action needs to be taken by FAAN to prevent a calamity that is waiting to happen,” the source said.

The international wing of the Lagos airport has consistently been scrutinized for safety concerns, especially fires caused by faulty electrical wiring.