A shocking sight for passengers at an airport in London.Cell phone video shows what looked like a wall of fire right outside the doors to the terminals.The scary situation was a shuttle bus engulfed in flames.The fire sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky and forced Stansted Airport officials to cancel flights last night.All airport operations are back to normal Saturday morning.Officials say an electrical issue sparked the fire, and no one was hurt.------ Passengers described panic and confusion as the bus burst into flames on Friday afternoon, belching thick black smoke that clouded much of the front of the terminal building. A statement on the airport's official Twitter page read this evening: "All departing flights until midnight have now been cancelled and passengers are politely asked to leave the Airport. “Following the earlier incident involving a shuttle bus fire on the terminal forecourt, we confirm that the airport will be open tomorrow [Saturday] and flights are expected to operate as normal,” the airport wrote on Twitter. ‘Passengers are advised to check the latest flight information with their airlines.’

There were no reported injuries in the blaze which began at around 4.20pm. “The airlines had to make their decisions as to whether cancel their flights in what was a difficult situation.”

In a statement this morning, Stansted said: “The airport was alerted to a major fire on a transfer bus outside the entrance to the terminal building at 4.20pm on Friday. Taylor Fulton-Ward, 18, from Hertfordshire, who was flying to Dublin, Ireland, with her family for the Easter weekend, claimed people were "pushing and panicking" after certain doors were not open to allow people to leave. She claimed: "We arrived at the airport and after a lot of waiting we got through security and staff told us all flights were running but delayed. No-one was injured but passengers described an atmosphere of confusion in the aftermath as flight details disappeared from departure boards. We went back through to check in to try and re-book the flight but the crowds were crazy. The biggest problem was not being able to get out the doors and a lack of communication.”

Evan Roth tweeted: “We’re at Ryanair Gate 57 waiting with hundreds of people with no communication from anyone and we were just told that we now have to leave and go through security again because people had to go through security without being checked in order to evacuate.”

A spokesman for the airport, which is the fourth busiest in the UK, said some exits were cordoned off to protect passengers from the burning bus, which was very close to some of the doors, and staff guided passengers to alternative exits. Some passengers were given the option of having their luggage mailed to their home address if they needed to leave the Essex-based airport quickly.
Stansted Airport in the United Kingdom reopens after a shuttle bus fire.