Tragedy averted at Mumbai airport: Bag with flammable chemical catches fire, five arrested

The incident took place on Friday morning as luggage was being transported to flight ET-641 at Terminal 2 of CSMIA

A major accident was prevented at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on August 16 when a bag containing a flammable chemical caught fire while being transported to an aircraft for loading.

The bag caught on fire just before the bag was to be loaded onto a flight carrying nearly 200 passengers, according to a report by Indian Express.

The Sahar police have arrested five persons for allegedly carrying hazardous material, fully aware of the potential danger to passengers’ lives.

As per the report quoting police, the incident took place on Friday morning as luggage was being transported to flight ET-641 at Terminal 2 of CSMIA. Suddenly, one of the bags in the trolley caught fire. Airport staff immediately extinguished the fire, preventing it from spreading further.

The bag had an inflammable substance called ‘hydrogen spirit’. A sample of the seized chemical has been sent to a forensic lab to determine its exact nature, police said.

The flyer carrying the substance, Sameer Biswas, 31, from West Bengal, was swiftly deboarded. Biswas said he was traveling to Ethiopia and intended to continue to Congo. He informed the police that one Naveen Sharma from Congo had asked him to bring the bag to Mumbai while traveling to Congo.

The police are also investigating potential security lapses, as the accused managed to breach the security and almost get the flammable chemical bag loaded onto the aircraft, the report added.