Leak of radioactive material at Delhi airport contained, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: There was a leak of radioactive material on Friday on board a Turkish Airlines freight plane at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, government and airport officials said, adding it had been contained.

The leak was found in a medical consignment, a source at the capital's airport told Reuters, adding that the site had been cordoned off by emergency services who put a blanket over the spill.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was holding a news conference when news of the leak broke, said the atomic energy experts had been immediately dispatched to the scene.

Police and Emergency Appliance Vehicle at the IGI Airport in New Delhi following reports of radioactive leak on the premises (Photo: PTI)

Sources said about four packets, out of the total ten, of a yellow-coloured liquid was suspected to have spread out of its sanitised container after the consignment landed at the cargo area of the airport at about 4:35 am after which a special squad of the National Disaster Response Force team was called in to check and contain it.

NDRF chief O P Singh said a special ten-member team from its base in Dwarka has been rushed to the spot and is "sanitising" the area. "Radioactive leak very very small. There is nothing to panic and there is no effect on the passenger area," Singh said.

The officials have vacated the cargo complex as a preventive measure.

Airport officials said the material was imported for use in medical purpose by a multi-speciality hospital.

The packets, containing the material, bore the markings class-II liquid and a chemical component of Sodium.