Damage and fumes paralyze part of the air traffic in Italy this Monday, July 17. Catania airport, the most important in this Mediterranean region, will remain closed until Wednesday after a fire that broke out overnight from Sunday to Monday, the airport announced on Twitter.
If the firefighters managed to bring the flames under control quickly, the building still needs to be cleared and repaired in order to be able to accommodate passengers and resume its activity in good conditions, its teams have further indicated on the social network, indicating that the flights would resume on Wednesday July 19 in the early afternoon (2 p.m. GMT according to their forecasts).
Local media reports that the fire started on Sunday night, shortly before midnight, and was not brought under control until dawn, with no casualties. The passengers who were present there were all evacuated by the security personnel, a thick smoke having invaded a large part of this international airport.
The worst has been avoided, but intervention is necessary. Thus, two days of delay before the reopening of the airport should make it possible to repair the damage caused by the fire and to ventilate the building still impregnated with the smell of smoke, according to the Italian press.