Nine injured, hundreds evacuated in JFK airport escalator fire

(NEW YORK) — Several people were taken to the hospital after an escalator caught fire at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told ABC News.

The small fire in Concourse C sent smoke billowing through the airport’s Terminal 8 at about 7 a.m.

Nine people received minor injuries due to smoke inhalation, four of whom were hospitalized, according to New York ABC station WABC-TV. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening.

About 960 people were evacuated on buses to another area of the terminal, officials said.

One traveler, Nate Peckinpaugh, told ABC News he had been about to board a flight from New York to Washington, D.C., when the fire broke out.

“I was catching a flight at the exact terminal we evacuated from. The alarm was going off for a long time and no one was paying attention,” Peckinpaugh told ABC News.

“Eventually this woman started running around and yelling for someone to help,” he added.

Peckinpaugh recorded the incident on his phone, from the alarm going off at the terminal to passengers being escorted outside, some covering their faces from the smoke. Firefighters were then seen arriving at the scene, with a few people being rescued from the jet bridge while others were being put on stretchers to receive assistance.

Operations had resumed in the terminal by about 8:15 a.m., officials said, and the cause of the fire is now under investigation.

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