NIGERIA: AIRPORT FIRE TEMPORARILY DISRUPTS

UNCLAS LAGOS 002198 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON ASEC NI ACS SUBJECT: NIGERIA: AIRPORT FIRE TEMPORARILY DISRUPTS OPERATIONS ¶1. (U) An electrical fire at Lagos' Murtala Mohammed International Airport temporarily disrupted flight operations on Thursday, October 23. Several flights were diverted or delayed, but skeletal operations resumed within a few hours. Airport authorities report that the terminal is still without power but say that navigational aids are unaffected; most people expect operations to return to normal later today. ¶2. (U) According to press reports and independent sources, a fire broke out mid-morning in the basement of the airport's international terminal, reportedly after Nigeria's National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) restored the airport's power supply (it had been cut off several days earlier for non-payment of bills). An unexpectedly powerful electrical current apparently surged through the building's electrical panels when airport authorities disconnected generators and switched to NEPA-supplied power. Firemen extinguished the fire within a few hours, but the building was left without electricity. ¶3. (U) Six people were reported injured, but no AmCits were among them. The Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Isa Yuguda, ordered a nine-member committee to investigate the cause of the fire and imposed a seven- day deadline for submission of its findings. GREGOIRE