A short circuit in the ceiling of the immigration counter caused the immigration system at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore to catch fire on Thursday, according to airport officials quoted in a report by Geo News.
According to the officials, the fire started in the airport’s departure lounge and was extinguished by employees of the Civil Aviation Authority following some resistance. Thick smoke did, however, continue to pose some difficulties for the immigration and flight operations.
According to reports, the first Hajj flight that was supposed to leave from Lahore was cancelled, and the incident also caused delays on seven other foreign flights.
The Hajj pilgrims’ immigration procedure has reportedly been restarted from the domestic counter, according to the authorities.
Mohsin Naqvi, the federal interior minister, has requested a report from the inquiry about the fire incident that occurred at the immigration desk. He declared, “The immigration counter will soon be operational for passengers’ convenience.”
On the other hand, reports state that the secretary of aviation and Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the minister of defense, defense production, and aviation, were given a preliminary report on the airport fire. The report states that the fire started at 5:23 a.m. in the airport’s international departure area and was under control by 8 a.m.
According to the investigation, the fire department personnel failed to follow regular operating protocols and the CAA fire tenders failed to arrive at the airport within the allotted reaction time. The sources stated that there was a set reaction time to put out the fire at the airport in accordance with the regulations.
Conversely, a high-level investigation of the event has been requested by the ministry of aviation.
However, the CAA spokesperson stated that all of the agencies that were present at the airport were working to bring things back to normal, thus things were progressively improving at the airport.
