Shutters down at two restaurants in T2 after airport fire
The fire was quickly extinguished and normal operations have resumed.
But it was not quite business as usual for at least two restaurants at Changi Airport Terminal 2 (T2) yesterday.
When The New Paper visited the airport in the morning, Nando's and Chutney Mary Indian Fast Food, which are on level three, had not reopened.
The fire on Tuesday, which started in a room holding air-conditioning equipment at about 5.40pm, had caused a disruption on an unprecedented scale after airport authorities fully evacuated the terminal, resulting in its closure for several hours.
Nando's business development executive, Mr Ng Kok Leng, said the restaurant, which specialises in grilled chicken, was unlikely to reopen yesterday.
He told TNP there were puddles of water around the areas where the ceiling was leaking.
"Even if the ceiling stops leaking, we'll need our contractor to assess the situation. We don't want the ceiling to drop down later because of the leak," he added.
Mr Ng said after the terminal reopened at about 10.30pm on Tuesday, the restaurant's staff returned to find water dripping from the ceiling above the cash register and towards the rear of the dining area.
They quickly covered equipment such as the cash register and coffee machine with a plastic sheet.
Mr Mohan Hase, the manager of Chutney Mary Indian Fast Food, which is next to Nando's, told TNP that its ceiling in the kitchen and dining area was dripping water, and the electricity supply had been cut off.
He believed the water was from sprinklers that were activated on the floors above the restaurant during the fire.
The 24-hour restaurant was closed after smoke filled the premises on Tuesday.
Mr Mohan said: "We cancelled many reservations last night. We also had to cancel some this morning."
T2 resumed normal operations at 3am yesterday, and the last affected flight was a Frankfurt-bound Lufthansa plane that took off at 3.58am.
Its original departure time was 11.40pm on Tuesday, Changi Airport Group (CAG) told TNP yesterday evening.
CAG said 23 departure flights and 19 arrival flights were affected.
Some food and beverage outlets in T2 that resumed businesses said they received instructions to give free food and drinks to affected passengers who presented their boarding passes, for which they would be compensated.
CAG said two airport workers who were taken to hospital for observation on Tuesday had been discharged. - Additional reporting by JULIA TAN
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