All the domestic and international flights to and from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) were cancelled for hours Tuesday evening after massive fire swept through the grassy field on the eastern side of the runway.

Half a dozen fire brigade vehicles and army and police teams were mobilised to control the fire. Huge flames and thick smoke could be seen above the runway from many parts of Kathmandu.

Floodlights installed around the runway switched off as the flames also caught the high voltage electric wires.

“Fire brigade vehicles from TIA, Kathmandu metropolitan city, Lalitput sub metropolitan city and Bhaktapur municipality were mobilised before the fire could spread to the airport side,” DIG Narayan Bastola said.

It was not immediately known how the fire started. The TIA sources said the flights were halted as soon as the incident was reported. nepalnews.com