Swiss Air: Five airport workers rushed to hospital after 'radioactive materials spill from suitcase' on board plane

Five airport workers have been rushed to hospital after a suspected radioactive substance has leaked from a suitcase at a Spanish airport. A Swiss Air plane landed at an airport in Barcelona and the "low-intensity radioactive material” reportedly “spilled from a suitcase".

The suitcase was understood to have contained medical supplies. It had been loaded onto the Swiss Air flight which arrived at Terminal One at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat airport.

The plane is now being held at stand 264 of Terminal 1 at the Catalunya airport, according to Nacional. Levels of radiation are being checked in the area which is currently cordoned off and the public are banned from getting anywhere near. 

There were 127 passengers and five crew members on board the plane which travelled from Zurich, Switzerland. The suitcase was discovered at around 10.48am local time on Monday (20 February). All those on the plane are understood to have been confined for hours following the incident, first on a plane and then in a room at the airport. Spanish authorities said they are currently at low risk.

According to The Mirror, a government of Catalonia spokeswoman Patricia Plaja said that those who had been hospitalised were "seriously affected people" adding that a dozen crews from the Generalitat Fire Department were sent with material to be able to work in the area. She also said that the chemical risk unit of the UIS Medical Emergency System was activated, and there was no damage to the airport's infrastructure as a result of the radioactive spill. A regional emergency response co-ordination centre said: "The emergency contingency plan for radiological emergencies has been activated this morning over a radioactive source inside an aircraft."

A spokesperson for Swiss International Airlines said: 'We can confirm that during the unloading of the cargo compartment of flight LX1952 in Barcelona, ground staff discovered that a box containing medical supplies showed damp patches. The flight was operated by an Air Baltic Airbus A220 with 134 passengers and five crew members on board. The aircraft has already been released and is on its way to Zurich. Further investigations are being carried out by the local authorities."

The spokesperson added: "'We can confirm that no radioactivity was detected during the measurements by the responsible authorities. This procedure is a regular airport process in the event of damaged or, in this case, wet cargo with radioactive contents. There was no danger to passengers, crew or ground personnel at any time. The aircraft took off for Zurich with passengers shortly after 2pm."