A large fire is engulfing the cargo area of Istanbul's main Ataturk airport, disrupting air traffic.

Hundreds of people have fled the area and nearby terminals and there are unconfirmed reports of cargo workers being trapped.
Huge plumes of black smoke were rising above the airport as firefighters tackled the blaze. Firefighting planes were dropping water from above.
It is not clear what caused the blaze or whether there have been casualties.
The airport is the main airport for domestic and international flights - and serves as the main hub for tourism in Turkey.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford, in Istanbul, said the authorities were struggling to bring the enormous fire under control.
One witness told local television that 250 people worked in the cargo section and everyone there had made it out safely. In Ankara, the Ministry of Transport has convened an emergency meeting to try to find out what happened.

Source = BBC News

Sounds serious.

Here's another news report:

A large fire broke out in a cargo area of Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport on Wednesday, injuring three people but not causing any air traffic delays, officials said.

Fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene of the fire where huge plumes of black smoke billowed up from the airport which serves Turkey's largest city.

Planes normally used for water bombing forest fires swooped down to douse the flames.

"There are no delays in air traffic, takeoffs and landings are continuing. Planes are being pulled away from the area. Work on putting out the fire is continuing," airport director Irfan Balta told CNN Turk.

Istanbul Deputy Governor Fikret Kasapoglu told Turkish NTV television news channel that three people had been hurt.

NTV also reported the transport ministry as saying the fire had been brought under control.

The fire broke out around 3.30pm (2230 AEST) in the cargo section of Terminal C, which is used by smaller airlines.

There was no official word on the cause of the blaze, though the Dogan news agency said it may have been caused by an electricity short circuit.

TV also reported that the electricity network had been affected and that passengers were being checked in manually.

There were concerns that some people were stuck in the area where the fire was raging, Turkish television said.

The cargo area is about 1000 metres from the main passenger area of the airport.

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Thanks goodness no one's been seriously injured, and lets hope it stays that way.
Seems like flights aren't being severly disrupted, so that's a good thing.
I just wonder what caused this ??

Found a few pictures:










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