Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report   

Video Credit: AsiaWire

This is the moment air travellers are evacuated from an international airport after a construction site goes up in flames and later erupts into a fireball.

Footage of Jiamusi Dongjiao International Airport, which is in China’s north-eastern province of Heilongjiang, shows flames burning brightly to the left of the main concourse.

The incident reported on the afternoon of 1st January stopped travellers in their tracks, with residents seen watching from a distance as smoke rises from the airport grounds.

But witnesses are then heard shouting and moving away in the opposite direction as a large explosion is heard and a ball of flames shoots into the night sky.

The Dongfeng District Emergency Management Office confirmed that the blaze began at 4:22pm local time inside an under-construction arrivals passage.

Construction material is believed to have been ignited, leading to the blaze and subsequent blast.

The airport was evacuated and the flames were put out 10 minutes later, with no major damage caused, the statement said.

It said flights were delayed but normal operations have since resumed, while the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

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