Blaze at IGI cargo terminal, offices gutted
A major fire broke out at one of the cargo terminals of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport early Thursday, gutting offices of several airlines. However, no casualties were reported, officials said.
The blaze broke out around 12.45 a.m. Thursday and, some 15 minutes later, reached the first floor of the cargo terminal, located near the Air Traffic Control (ATC) building.
The building houses offices of around 20 international airlines, including Air India, Air Sri Lanka and others. Sources said the maintenance staff initially tried to douse the flames with fire fighting arrangements available at the cargo complex but failed.
Some 28 fire tenders were pressed into service and the blaze was doused at around 4.30 a.m., a fire official said. According to a spokesperson of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the fire gutted the offices of some airlines.
The first floor of the cargo building that houses the airline offices and the HR department of Celebi, the ground handling services company which manages cargo operations at the airport, was completely gutted.
"The fire was in a non-operational area where there were only airlines offices," the spokesperson said. Huge losses are expected. However, "not a single box of cargo was damaged", he added. Celebi has been asked for a detailed report. "The fire broke out in the import section. There are three buildings housing the import section and the fire broke out in the second building. All the offices have been gutted. There was no one in the offices as it was night hours," the official said.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, though an electrical short circuit is not ruled out.
