The domestic part of Siberian airport Krasnoyarsk completely burned down on Monday in a four-hour firestorm.
Roughly 100 fire fighters and 38 vehicles were needed to extinguish the flames. Agencies report that nobody was hurt, but air traffic collapsed completely. According to the regional ministry of civil defense, the terminal was abandoned with no passenger or airport and airline personnel left when the blast started. However, fire fighters had to rescue one air traffic controller who was caught in the airport tower with flames thwarting his retreat. The reason for the burn is still being investigated, but authorities suspect a short circuit in the electrical system caused the ignition.
The Siberian city’s Cheremshanka airport is part of a larger aviation site including Yemelyanovo International, which is approximately two kilometers away from the domestic facility. Both are located approximately 35 km out of the city of Krasnoyarsk. The fire did not affect Yemelyanovo and traffic was not disrupted.
Lufthansa Cargo is the major carrier of the airport, which provides technical stops on the carrier’s routes between Germany and the Far East. “We operate weekly 40 flights in and out Krasno,” LH Cargo’s Michael Goentgens told FlyingTypers. “Our processes are running according to schedule and were not influenced by the fire or smoke,” he stated.
Heiner Siegmund,Flying Typers
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