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THICK
acrid smoke blanketed the arrival area at the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport (Naia) at 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday while passengers from seven foreign flights
were lined up at the immigration counter.
“What’s
happening here?” cried a foreigner in alarm, seeing the
acrid smoke creeping slowly down the floor from the
ceiling fanned by the air-conditioning system.
Marilou
Calipjo, a domestic helper from Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte,
who just arrived from Kuwait, said she almost panicked
on seeing what appeared to be fire consuming the
building. She was pacified and told that it was only
smoke, and that airport personnel were trying to put it
out as fast as they could.
Immediately, Naia authorities ordered the building’s
air-conditioning system shut down and deployed huge
industrial fans to drive away the smoke that was
seriously bothering many passengers and airport workers.
After 30
minutes, airport assistant manager for operations
Octavio Lina, with the help of firemen, found out the
smoke originated from the fourth floor of the building,
apparently after a short circuit in the “air-con
handling unit.”
Apparently fearing the story of the terminal fire may
spread beyond his control, Lina prevented news
photographers from taking pictures.
Manila International
Airport manager Alfonso Cusi had just ordered a
facelifting for Naia Terminal 1—improving the comfort
rooms, mending the cracks in the ceiling and floors, and
expanding the arrival area to accommodate more
passengers.
He
concedes the building is old (26 years old) and there is
only so much that engineers could do to put the terminal
in top form.
Several
years ago, a fire gutted the same air-con unit, where
the fan belt burned, emitting smoke that was eventually
sucked in by the air-con system, flowing down to the
arrival area. Timely arrival of firemen prevented the
fire from spreading.
Built
during the Marcos regime, the building has been battered
by the 1990 earthquake, so that during rain, water
sometimes pours profusely from the ceiling and walls.
The
terminal’s electrical system needs replacement, having
been originally installed in 1982, according to airport
authorities. They have installed plastic hoses to drain
the water from the top and allow it to flow down to the
gutters.
Many
airport workers and concessionaires describe the network
of plastic and water collection pails as a huge dextrose
system feeding a dying person.
As the
smoke on Wednesday was being driven away by huge exhaust
ventilators, some airport workers were heard saying the
authorities should allow the fire to consume the whole
building to speed up the transfer of the whole airport
operations to the controversial and still unopened Naia
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