Fire in Kolkata airport, passengers panic

Afire broke out near a departure gate of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Wednesday night, creating chaos and panic among passengers, officials said.

No casualty was reported.

The fire was noticed at around 9.10 pm and it was doused within half an hour, officials said.

They added that the check-in process was suspended for some time as eight fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze.

The entire area inside the airport was engulfed with thick black smoke after the fire broke out at 3C departure gate.

“There was a minor fire & smoke on the check-in area portal D at 2112 pm and fully extinguished by 2140 pm. All passengers are evacuated safely and check-in process suspended due to presence of smoke in the check-in area,” the airport tweeted.

Officials said after an initial investigation that a short circuit could be the reason for the fire.

“Since there was a rush of passengers, airport authorities took no chance and used their firefighters to douse the fire. The cooling process started after it was extinguished,” a police officer said.

State Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose told PTI that his department had sent four fire tenders to assist the Airports Authority Of India (AAI) in fighting the blaze.

“Initially, it seems that some fault related to the air conditioning system caused the fire. The exact reason behind it will be known after an investigation,” he said.