Angry Russian travellers storm passport control

Tempers are reported to have flared at one of Moscow’s main airports as snow and power cuts disrupted flights for a second day.

Angry passengers are said to have stormed the passport control zone at Domodedovo airport demanding information on their flights.

One man said: “If you pass passport control, you can’t go back, and this zone is packed with people -eight or 10 thousand people, with nowhere to sit, people fainting all the time.”

A woman said: “There’s no flush in the toilets, no water in the taps, no water, coffee or tea in the bars, no hot food. Only soft drinks and beer.”

Some 200 flights were cancelled on Monday after freezing weather snapped power lines. A lack of de-icing fluid has also been reported at airports. It could be days before air traffic returns to normal.

One angry woman yelled at an airline official: “Why has no one from the airport come out to explain why the flights are cancelled? There are children sleeping on the floor the whole night. You gave us restaurant vouchers, but when we get there, nothing’s availbale on the menu, only water.”

This kind of wintry weather is nothing unusual for Moscow. But there has been a rare heavy downpour of freezing rain that can form thick layers of ice on power cables, eventually breaking them under the weight.

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