Angry passenger sets airport sofa on fire after deportation

In an unusual incident at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport, a passenger set a sofa on fire in protest against his deportation.

According to foreign media reports, the fire broke out in the General Security deportation office within the airport. Civil Defence personnel responded immediately and managed to extinguish the flames before the situation escalated.

Reports suggest that the passenger, who had arrived from abroad, was denied entry and ordered to be deported. Enraged by the decision, he ignited a sofa inside the airport premises. The fire brigade quickly took control of the situation, and no flight schedules were disrupted as a result of the incident.

Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport, Dr Ali Hamieh, along with the Director General of Civil Aviation, Fadi Al-Hassan, visited the airport to assess the situation.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the passenger was deported for violation of rules, including smoking on the plane. Upon being sent to the deportation office, he set fire to a piece of furniture in an act of defiance against the authorities' decision.