Fire at Istanbul Ataturk Airport
CNN Breaking News: Huge fire engulfs cargo section of Istanbul’s international Ataturk airport, blocking air traffic, television reports say.
Update: AP has details.
A huge fire engulfed the cargo section of Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport on Wednesday, blocking air traffic and causing hundreds of panicked people to flee, television reports said. Authorities worked to evacuate thousands of people from nearby terminals.
Probably no big deal here.
Update: CNN:
A massive fire that engulfed part of Istanbul’s international airport left three people injured but did not cause major air traffic delays, Turkish officials say. A Transport Ministry official said Wednesday’s blaze, which broke out in the cargo section of Ataturk Airport, was under control and that flights were continuing.
Turkey’s Deputy Gov. Fikret Kasapoglu private NTV television that three people suffered smoke inhalation but there were no other casualties. He said the fire was believed to have been caused by a short circuit of electrical systems in a cargo area of the airport, and may have caused secondary explosions causing the fire to quickly spread.
It certainly appears this was a mere mechanical failure rather than an act of sabotage or terrorism. And three smoke inhalation cases is quite minor in light of the initial alarm.
Obviously, the Greeks did it.
‘A huge fire engulfed the cargo section of Istanbulâ??s Ataturk International Airport’
‘Probably no big deal here.’
Wha?
I’ve been through Ataturk. When changing planes, every passenger had to walk out on the tarmac and physically identify each of their bags, which was only then loaded onto the outbound plane.
I suppose it could have been an attempt at terrorism, but I wouldn’t exactly consider this place a ‘soft target’…