It was yet another day of losses for Nigeria’s aviation sector as fire this evening gutted parts of the country’s busiest airport, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos.

The incident happened around the time Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa, who died in last Saturday’s helicopter crash in President Jonathan’s home state, Bayelsa, alongside former National Security Adviser, retired Gen. Andrew Owoeye Azazi, and four others, was being buried in his hometown, Fadan-Kagoma.

An eyewitness who preferred not to be named said the fire started from some cables, which apparently melted under heat, as some welders were working at the extension of ‘D’ Wing of the international airport.

“It was learnt that airport officials in an attempt to save the situation swiftly cut off power supply to the arrival and departure halls,” says the Lagos newspaper, Vanguard.

It quoted Mr. Yakubu Dati, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), as saying that prompt intervention of the fire service attached to the airport immediately brought the fire under control.

“There were no casualties. The only fallout of the incident was the switching off of the power source which has since been restored,” Dati stated.

“Normal activities at the airport which were not interrupted by the fire have continued as planes are taking off and landing without hitches,” he added.

•Photo, courtesy Vanguard.