A fire broke out near a departure gate of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Wednesday night, officials said. Firefighting arrangements were pressed into service to douse the blaze as panic-stricken passengers were moved to a safe place, they said. No casualty was reported.
The entire area inside the airport was engulfed with thick black smoke after the fire broke out at portal D near the 3C departure gate at around 9.12 pm. The fire was fully extinguished by 9:40 PM.
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"Since there was a rush of passengers, airport authorities took no chance and used their firefighters to douse it. At the moment, it is under control, and the cooling process is being done," a police officer said.
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.
Check in and operation will resume by 1015 pm. #— Kolkata Airport (@aaikolairport) June 14, 2023
Officials said after an initial investigation that short circuit could be the reason for the fire. In a tweet, the authorities stated, "All passengers have been safely evacuated, and the check-in process has been temporarily suspended due to the presence of smoke in the area. Check-in operations will resume by 10:15 PM."
