Somalia: Flights resume at Mogadishu Airport after Fire

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Flights departing from Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu resumed operating as normal after an inferno broke out on a restaurant in the facility, Garowe Online reports.

Somalia's Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Mohamed Abdullahi Salad Omar said firefighters have successfully put out the blaze, saying that the incident has not affected the usual airport operations.

The Minister underscored that the fire which broke out at 5:30 a.m. local time did not cause casualties or disrupt flights in or out of the city's busiest airport which is now recovering from decades-long hiatus.

No injuries were reported as the result of the airport blaze, he added. The exact cause of the fire is yet unclear, but, security sources said it happened as a result of an electric fault.

An airport official who spoke to Garowe Online said the operation was halted for several hours International flights en route to the airport directed to elsewhere, however, touched down later.

Passengers described panic and confusion as the eatery burst into flames, belching thick black smoke that clouded much of the front of the terminal building and hundreds of travelers remained stranded.

Somali government officially regained control of its airspace last year from the International Civil Aviation Organisation which has been controlling it since 1993.

GAROWE ONLINE