Minor Fire Breaks Out At Kolkata Airport; Fully Extinguished, No Casualties

A fire broke out at a check-in counter in the departure area of Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, leading to the temporary closure of Departure Section 3 on Thursday.

Around 9.10 pm, the fire was first noticed and it was doused within half an hour, officials said. They stated that no arrival flight was affected. 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 the 3C departure gate. The video clips from the spot showed flame engulfing a section of the airport.

"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," the official Twitter handle of the Kolkata Airport said.

A short circuit could be the reason for the fire, the initial investigation reveals.

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.

Officials said the check-in is now being conducted via portal C. "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.