Huge fire causes extensive damage to airport
A huge fire quickly engulfed the cargo section of Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport today, destroying most of the building and forcing about 2,000 workers to flee, authorities said.
Thick, black smoke from the blaze forced the closure of one of the airport’s runways, causing flight delays. Three people suffered smoke inhalation, but no one was killed, authorities said.
The fire destroyed much of the cargo stored in the building, including textile products and gold shipments, officials said. They said they would need more time to estimate the damage, but that it would likely total millions of dollars.
Smoke from the blaze could be seen from more than six miles away.
“Our biggest consolation is there is no loss of life,” said Mujdat Yucel, manager of the Havas cargo and ground services company.
Planes from the municipality filled their hulls with six tons of water at a time from the nearby Marmara Sea and made dozens of trips to drop it on the blaze, flying low and at an angle to avoid a Turkish Airlines building nearby before dumping the sea water on the fire.
Authorities ruled out terrorism or sabotage and gave various possible causes for the fire, including a spark from a welder’s torch or an electrical short-circuit. The fire began in a section where fuel depots were located.
“It was definitely not sabotage,” said deputy governor Fikret Kasapoglu. “But there are various kinds of materials in there, flammable, explosive, so we have to be careful.”
Dozens of fire trucks battled wild flames on land while the sea planes staged more than 70 sorties, pouring water to finally take the blaze under control after more than four hours.
The cargo operation of Turkish Airlines, which was in a separate section of the airport, was unaffected by the blaze. Most other airlines and carriers would be affected.
As authorities raced to move parked cargo planes away from the burning building, thousands of passengers anxiously watched thick smoke rise from behind the large windows of the ultra-modern terminal building, which is the main hub for domestic and international flights and which hosts millions of tourists each year.
The fire closed down one runway, causing delays up to a few hours, but authorities said there was no security risk for flights and encouraged passengers to fly. Turkish Airlines planes could be seen landing even as the fire raged.
“There are no problems concerning flight security,” said Baris Tozar, the under-secretary of the Transportation Ministry.
The fire surrounded the building within minutes as workers fled in a panic. Private Sky-Turk television reported occasional explosions.
“A huge black cloud came, it smelled like cables burning, the roof started burning,” cargo worker Omer Toplar said.
Toplar and hundreds of his co-workers watched the blaze from about 100 metres away and were worried that the fire and the damage it caused could cost them their jobs.
Workers said the entire structure, some 150,000 square metres, was in flames within five minutes.
“There was panic, no one thought the fire would get so big,” said Sebahattin Yildiz, who said he owned cargo that was lost in the fire.
Airport officials also said that because the cargo section contained a wide variety of materials being exported and imported, there was still the danger for the fire to reach explosive materials.
Earlier, private NTV television said some cargo workers may have been trapped inside the two-story cargo building but authorities denied the report.
Radical Islamic, leftist and Kurdish militants are active in Istanbul, and Kurdish militants recently claimed responsibility for a major fire at an Istanbul factory.
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