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The Site Of The Berlin-Tegel Fire

A fire engulfed an wooden office building at Berlin-Tegel Airport overnight, interrupting air traffic for about 30 minutes while more than 100 firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.

The hexagonal passenger terminal building at the city's busiest airport was undamaged, and two Lufthansa and two Austrian Airlines flights were diverted because of thick smoke rising over the runways. Passengers on those planes touched down at Schoenefeld, in the south of Berlin, which will be converted into Berlin-Brandenburg International in 2011. Berlin's third airport, Tempelhof, wouldn't have been an alternative; it was shuttered on October 31.

Until last night, the burned building was occasionally used by the military and visiting VIPs; it was also set up as a quarantine office but never saw any action in that capacity.

Related Stories:
· Berlin Airport Blaze Brought Under Control [Reuters]
· Fire Breaks out at Berlin Airport [BBC]
· Airports coverage [Jaunted]