Disruption at Luton airport will last ‘for days’ after a massive inferno destroyed a multi-storey car park and sparked mass flight cancellations.
One hundred firefighters spent 12 hours battling the inferno at the airport’s Terminal Car Park Two when the £20million block was engulfed by flames and caved in just before 9pm last night.
Investigators believe the blaze was started when a diesel car, thought to be a Range Rover, suffered an electrical fault or leaking fuel line.
The fire then spread as a number of electric vehicles burst into flames in a domino effect, one firefighter suggested. As many as 1,500 vehicles are feared to have been damaged as a result of the collapse in the car park, which has a capacity of 1,900.
Up to 50,000 passengers are suffering disruption at the airport, which only reopened at 3pm this afternoon, with more than 140 flights cancelled. Most flights are now back on but many are delayed.
Today, an airport worker – who asked to remain anonymous – said the fire would continue to ‘majorly’ impact services in the coming days, reports The Telegraph.
Dramatic footage on CCTV captured the moment the Range Rover caught fire, bringing light fixtures down from the ceiling before a fireball soared through the building. The vehicle appears to be in the middle of the road used to get around the car park, rather than a designated space.