New Delhi Airport Radiation Leak Poses No Risk to Passengers - Operator

Passengers face no risk from Friday's leak of radioactive material in New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, an official with the airport's operator said Friday.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — The leak of sodium iodide 131, a liquid isotope used to treat thyroid cancer, was detected in the import cargo terminal of the airport earlier in the day. The substance was shipped from Istanbul, Turkey, for use in a local hospital.

"This area is far away from any of the passenger terminals and there is absolutely no risk of exposure to any passengers," the official from Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) said in a statement.

Earlier, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief said the affected people "only complained about a burning in the eye."

"The said area has been cordoned off and as per the preliminary assessment given by AMD [Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research] the material has been termed as that of low radioactivity," the DIAL official continued.

The spokesperson added that India's Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) nuclear research facility has dispatched a team to work on the removal of the materials alongside AMD and NDRF staff members.