Kalium Chloride
17th August 2002, 16:20
Flights halted after outbreak of fire at gate 5. Sounds serious but no more details.
newswatcher
19th August 2002, 13:34
AP reports(18/8):
"Kuwait International Airport was fully operational Sunday, less than 24 hours after a fire brought air traffic to a standstill.
"The airport is working full capacity,'' Communications Minister Sheik Ahmed Abdullah Al Ahmed Al Sabah told The Associated Press. "There are no delayed flights or canceled flights.''
He said six of the airport's 12 gates were affected by the fire and not working, but that passengers were being transported to and from the aircraft by bus. Air traffic resumed in the late hours of Saturday.
Two of the damaged gates were expected to be repaired in around four days, and one gate, No. 5, will be removed, he said.
The minister would not give any initial estimates of material losses.
There were no casualties in the Saturday afternoon fire that left a large part of the whitewashed and marble-floored terminal gutted and covered in soot. Passengers and workers were evacuated.
The fire broke out in the kitchen of the first class lounge, which is next to the gate No. 5. The blaze did not reach the arrivals area of the airport.
The airport is packed this time of year as Kuwaitis and foreign residents of this small oil-rich state start to return from summer vacations abroad"