Lagos, Nigeria Airport Up in Flames

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CNN

Nigeria: Fire sweeps domestic terminal of Lagos airport

May 10, 2000 Web posted at: 9:22 AM EDT (1322 GMT)

LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) -- A mysterious early morning fire swept through the domestic terminal of Nigeria's Lagos airport on Wednesday, causing extensive damage, witnesses and police said.

There were no lives lost in the blaze, which started at about 2 a.m. (0100 GMT) and completely destroyed the departure and arrival hall.

"We are still battling to completely put out the fire," the head of the fire crew, who declined to be named, told Reuters at the scene.

Airlines set up make-shift outdoor counters to attend to passengers. Flights were diverted to nearby Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

"The fire is beyond human imagination. It was like a bomb blast and it destroyed all our equipment and facility," an airline official said.

Lagos State Police commissioner Mike Okiro told Reuters that authorities had not yet determined what caused the fire.

"There is going to be a government enquiry into the reason for the fire outbreak," he said.

The ramshackle domestic airport, in the northwestern district of Ikeja, was built in the 1970s and is a major hub for Nigeria's fast growing domestic and internal air industry. It handles scores of flights daily.

-- Rachel Gibsofn (rgibson@hotmail.com), May 10, 2000


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