Terminal 3 remains closed after fire at Rome’s Fiumicino airport

It was at midnight last night (Thursday) that a substantial fire broke out in an electrical cabin that was undergoing maintenance in terminal 3 at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. The fire was so severe that the whole airport was closed for a period of time, involving the cancellation of several dozen flights and which left hundreds of passengers stranded. Passengers arriving for early morning flights were not allowed inside the airport at all. The fire was described as “very violent”, causing the main highway linking the airport to Rome to be closed during the night and the train service from the city to be suspended for a while as well.
By the latter part of the morning all passengers due to depart from terminal three were being redirected to terminal 1 where serious delays are expected for some time. Alitalia, which had earlier cancelled most flights to and from Fiumicino except for a few inter-continental arrivals, also confirmed that check-in procedures would be moved to Terminal 1 until further notice. A police source made it clear nothing had indicated this might be a case of arson, though an investigation would be continuing. Three passengers suffered from smoke inhalation and a number of shops were seriously damaged. A fire officer made it very clear that the fire could have had appreciably more serious consequences had it broken out during the day when the terminal would have been far busier.