Geneva: Air traffic temporarily interrupted after a major fire and explosions at the airport

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Police on duty (symbol image)

Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP

According to the videos, the clouds of smoke are visible from miles away: a building caught fire near Geneva Airport.

As the "Tribune de Genève" reported, according to eyewitnesses, there were also explosions during the fire.

Air traffic at the second most important airport in Switzerland was therefore affected from around 5:35 p.m.

Several planes failed to land and had to be diverted.

According to an airport spokesman, take-offs were at the discretion of the pilots, but the runway was not entirely usable.

According to the spokesman, air traffic should resume around 7 p.m.

Recordings on social media showed heavy smoke from the burning complex, which was apparently still under construction.

At least one explosion was also seen in a video.

According to »TdG« and RTS, asylum seekers should be accommodated in the affected building in the future.

It is therefore located near one end of the runway, but not on the airport premises.

There was initially no information about the cause of the fire.

fek/dpa