London Stansted Airport travel chaos as passengers 'mass' evacuated

29 July 2023 , 10:57

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London Stansted Airport travel chaos as passengers 'mass' evacuated

Passengers faced travel chaos as Stansted Airport was evacuated this morning, with some fearing they would miss their flights.

The check-in area was evacuated "under normal procedures" after a fire alarm in the departures area went off, with the fire brigade rushing to the airport, a Stansted spokesman said. At around 12.30pm, the airport confirmed the fire alarm was stood down and passengers were allowed to re-enter the terminal.

As the incident unfolded, a passenger named Harry wrote on Twitter that it was the "worst fire evacuation" he has ever seen with "staff panicking, not enough exits for everyone to leave from, no direction from staff." He added: "Hopefully you can bring this up in your management meeting on Monday."

Another evacuated passenger on Twitter wrote: "So, mass evacuation at #Stansted. Fire alarms going off. General pandemonium. Guess that's me missing my flight."

London Stansted Airport was reportedly evacuated

A passenger travelling to Stansted Airport by bus said on Twitter that people have not been allowed to get due to the evacuation procedure.

Holiday family return to find everything they own - even cat - destroyed in fire

A spokesman for Stansted Airport told The Mirror: "There was a fire alarm detection in Landside departures. The check in area was evacuated under normal procedures and is imminently going to be stood down with operation going back to normal."

The Mirror has also contacted Essex County Fire & Rescue Service for a comment.

Passengers said they fear missing their flights (@12yearsofdamageTwitter)

Passengers outside Stansted Airport after a fire alarm went off (@12yearsofdamageTwitter)

Chaos at Stansted comes just one day after London's Gatwick Airport was evacuated due to a fire alarm being activated. Crowds were seen gathering outside the airport's north terminal, and a fire crew was pictured climbing up an escalator.

One traveller took to Twitter complaining of a "lack of guidance" from staff, posting: "Evacuated at Gatwick due to a fire alarm! Not great from the staff here as no guidance. Poor operations!"

Another wrote alongside a photo of two firefighters: "Gatwick Airport evacuation, fire alert", while a third shared a video of people milling around outside, saying: "Fire alarm at Gatwick, this is going to be fun."

As of 7.30am, passengers were being allowed back inside the airport. A Gatwick spokeswoman apologised to passengers for any inconvenience, and said the evacuation took place for a "short time".

Chiara Fiorillo