US embassy cable - 03LAGOS2198

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