London: Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest, was forced to shut down for 24 hours on Friday following a massive fire at an electricity substation that caused a major power outage. Officials warned of “significant disruption” in the coming days, with thousands of passengers and hundreds of flights affected.
Authorities advised travelers not to visit the airport until it reopens just before midnight on Friday local time. Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 reported that 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow would be impacted, including 120 already in the air at the time of the closure.
The London Fire Brigade responded to a “significant” blaze in Hayes, Hillingdon, deploying 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters. Approximately 150 people were evacuated, and images on social media showed flames and smoke billowing from the site. The fire caused power outages for over 16,000 homes and businesses in the area.
Heathrow, handling over 80 million passengers annually, operates 1,300 takeoffs and landings daily. The closure forced several international flights to be rerouted, with United Airlines canceling all Friday flights to London Heathrow and Qantas diverting flights to Paris.
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