Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

This is the alarming moment a fire breaks out at a nuclear power plant after a lightning strike.

The small-scale fire broke out when lightning struck the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is under construction in the district of Gulnar in the Turkish province of Mersin, during heavy rain on 30th October.

Onlookers armed with their mobile phones filmed the fire as it raged through the plant, lighting up the sky above, and later posted the footage to social media.

Footage of the incident shows how workers at the power plant run to get as far away from the fire as possible.

According to the news site En Son Haber, onsite firefighters were able to swiftly extinguish the blaze, with no casualties or injuries reported.

The firm Akkuyu Nuclear A.S. has since made a statement regarding the incident reading: “As a result of a lightning strike on the power transmission line close to the fire brigade’s control panel in the Akkuyu NPP area, it was learned via an emergency message that a fire had broken out in the auxiliary transformer centre area.

“The fire was first brought under control by the firefighters who came to the scene immediately, and then it was completely extinguished. No one was injured. All units quickly fulfilled their duties regarding the emergency response procedure of the Akkuyu NPP site.

“The lightning strike partially damaged the infrastructure of the power lines in the substation area. Electricity was restored to the site. All construction works at the site continue as usual.”

Ali Mahir Basarir, a member of parliament for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), commented on the incident, saying: “The construction of this nuclear power plant has been a disaster for Turkey and Mersin.”

It is reported that when the power plant comes into operation at full capacity, it will be able to meet 10 percent of Turkey’s annual electricity demand, with approximately 35 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity production.