An incident of fire at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Pakistan disrupted flight activities. Geo News reported that the fire broke out due to a short circuit in the ceiling of the immigration counter on Thursday. The occurrence was around 5:23 AM and by 8 AM, the authorities had successfully put out the fire.
According to news outlets, the inaugural flight set to leave Lahore was delayed, along with seven other global flights, due to heavy smoke. Despite the obstacles, staff from the Civil Aviation Authority managed to put out the fire.
A clip from the same event was posted on social media platform X, showing the airport grounds shrouded in smoke.
Consequently, the procedure for Haj pilgrims’ immigration was reinstated from the domestic counter. According to reports, the fire-related incident did not result in any casualties.
As reported by local news outlets, officials have begun probing into the origins of the fire.
“Firefighting crews and emergency teams promptly arrived at the scene and successfully extinguished the fire without any reported fatalities,” stated CAA, as relayed by PTI news agency. They continued by noting that the passengers in the immigration zone were safely evacuated and relocated to the domestic lounge.
As revealed by PTI, Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has demanded a comprehensive report and initiated a meticulous inquiry into the fire outbreak that took place in the immigration section of Lahore airport. Additionally, Naqvi instructed that the immigration counter should be operational as quickly as possible to facilitate the passengers.
The CAA confirmed that a fire occurrence resulted in a postponement of Hajj, international, and local flights. They further noted, “Manual immigration procedures are being carried out by the airport personnel.”
The whole immigration infrastructure suffered destruction as a result of a fire.
