Damage assessed after huge Istanbul airport fire

Police increased security at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport today, as authorities and companies began to assess the huge damage caused by a raging fire and tried to determine what caused it.

A hardline Kurdish militant group had claimed responsibility in an email to a pro-Kurdish news agency in the Netherlands, but authorities would not comment on the claim, saying an investigation was under way.

The blaze quickly burned much of the airport’s cargo section to the ground, and officials said they were working on contingency plans, including taking on freight at the city’s other airport on the Asian side of the city, and in the town of Corlu, about 50 miles to the west.

Water-bombing planes made more than 140 sorties over the smouldering wreck, and firefighters battled the blaze for five hours. They had been unable to assess damage yesterday because the area remained too hot to enter, and a team of firefighters worked through the night to cool it.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Organisation, a hard-line group linked to the main Kurdish guerrilla group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, said it started the blaze, according to the Firat News Agency’s website. Firat often receives information from Kurdish rebel leaders.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons have claimed eight bombings in Istanbul this year, and recently said tourism and economic targets were among the group’s priorities. Previous bombings left two dead and 47 injured.

Thick, black smoke from the airport blaze could be seen from six miles away and forced the closure of one of the airport’s runways, causing flight delays. Three people suffered smoke inhalation, but no one was killed, authorities said.

The fire destroyed cargo including textile products and gold shipments, officials said. They said they would need more time to estimate the damage, but that it would total millions of pounds.

The cargo operation of Turkish Airlines, which was in a separate section of the airport, was unaffected by the blaze. Most other airlines and carriers would be affected. Turkish Airlines planes could be seen landing even as the fire raged.

Workers said the entire structure, some 1.6 million square feet, was in flames within five minutes. Some 2,000 workers fled in the panic after the fire.

Kurdish militants have been fighting for autonomy in Turkey since 1984, in a fight that has left more than 37,000 dead. The group appears to be a radical offshoot of the PKK, which does most of its fighting in the country’s Kurdish-majority south-east.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons have vowed to bring the fight to Turkey’s cities.