Fire Guts Lagos Airport Terminal, Panic As Passengers, Staff Evacuated

Panic erupted on Wednesday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after a fire outbreak was reported at the airport’s temporary terminal building, forcing the immediate evacuation of passengers, airline crew, and staff.

Eyewitnesses told SaharaReporters that the affected terminal was suddenly engulfed in thick smoke, triggering confusion and fear among travellers who rushed to exit the building.

“The temporary terminal just caught fire. The whole building is covered with smoke. All passengers, crew, and staff members have been evacuated,” a source at the airport said.

SaharaReporters learnt that the fire broke out immediately after the Ethiopian Airlines flight completed boarding and departed.

Sources at the airport said emergency response protocols were quickly activated, with safety officials moving to secure the area and prevent casualties.

“Firefighters from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) are currently battling the blaze to bring it under control,” a source at the airport said.Nigerian government news

“There was a lot of panic at first, but people were quickly asked to leave the building. Security officials are trying to manage the situation,” another witness said.

As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the fire remains unknown, and there are no confirmed reports of casualties or injuries.

In February, SaharaReporters reported how a fire broke out at the airport, forcing the evacuation of all air traffic controllers from the MMIA control tower during the incident, which affected the old terminal on Monday, February 23, 2026.

Subsequently, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Farouk Umar, disclosed that essential air-to-ground communication systems were completely destroyed in the fire at Terminal 1 of MMIA, Lagos.

Umar told journalists that the damage forced air traffic controllers to rely entirely on emergency backup systems to sustain flight operations.

He made this known while assessing the impact of the blaze two days later, noting that it caused significant operational disruptions, led to flight diversions, and triggered a large-scale emergency response.

The NAMA chief emphasised the severity of the incident, describing it as a major blow to critical infrastructure supporting aircraft communication and air navigation services.

Commenting on the impact of the fire, Farouk said “the fire has affected our air-to-ground communication completely”.

“What you see on the ground to sustain air traffic service is the backup that we moved from other places to sustain Lagos,” he said.

Reflecting on the work ahead, he continued, “It is going to be very difficult for me to tell the magnitude of the loss; it will take us a while to do so.”

“What we saw actually was a huge loss as far as communication is concerned. Also, air traffic services were really disrupted,” he said.