LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT EVACUATED AFTER FIRE ALARM GOES OFF

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Dozens of flights have been delayed at Gatwick airport after a fire alarm triggered an evacuation of the South terminal. 

One holidaymaker claimed they were 'stuck on the runway waiting to take off' for over 45 minutes.

Social media posts showed chaotic scenes from the UK's second busiest airport as thousands of confused passengers waited outside the terminal. 

Once the situation was resolved, passengers faced further heartache today as the chaos meant they faced delays waiting to take off to their holiday destinations. 

According to Flight Radar, the backlog of flights led to dozens of flights being delayed with some flights waiting an hour and a half to take off. With one flight to Malta leaving Gatwick two hours later than it was suppose to. 

One passenger who was stuck on the runway was Kevin Edgar, whose BA flight to Antigua was delayed for an hour and 26 minutes before it eventually took off. 

Mr Edgar, spoke to MailOnline while he was waiting to takeoff. He said: 'There's been no confirmation yet when we'll leave. We've been sat on the plane for 40 minutes now.'

He added: 'I need a drink!' 

The holidaymaker also claimed some passengers had to travel through airport security again after the evacuation after leaving the terminal. 

Mr Edgar posted on X, formerly twitter, a video from inside the departure lounge shows the moment the fire alarm went off with an announcement saying 'attention, the fire alarm has been activated.' Passengers can be seen leaving the departure lounge en masse to make their way outside. 

Other passengers also took to social media to post about the evacuation. On X one user wrote: 'Fire alarm at Gatwick South terminal. Evacuated all passengers from Airside, no staff know what's going on. No coordination from anyone at the airport. Fun day.' 

Another social media user said: 'More chaos at @Gatwick_Airport following fire alarm activation, and pre-security ques building. Guess I'll be missing my flight then....' 

A person commented: 'A fire alarm at @Gatwick_Airport and staff are as clueless as guests as to the procedures on how to safely exit. No fire Marshalls, signage pointing the wrong way. Eventually found a way out. Awful.' 

A London Gatwick spokesperson told MailOnline that the situation had since been resolved and passengers are returning to departures. 

They also said that any delays were due to flights being held were to ensure any passengers did not miss their flights. 

In a statement they said: 'London Gatwick's South Terminal Departure Lounge was evacuated for a short time this morning due to a fire alarm activation. Our dedicated Airport Fire Service swiftly attended and confirmed there was no fire. Passengers are being allowed back into the Departure Lounge. Safety and security are our top priority and we resolved the situation as quickly as possible.' 

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2024-05-09T09:21:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd