A sky lantern descended on a grassy border area near the northbound runway of the CKS International Airport in Taoyuan last night, sparking a huge fire that forced airport authorities to temporarily close both the northbound and southbound runways.
According to the Dayuan (
The fire forced many inbound airplanes into a holding pattern as firefighters battled to put out the blaze.
"The fire's point of origin was on the grassland near the northbound runway," the police station said.
Police officials said that they were not sure where the lantern came from.
"Due to strong winds, we are still investigating which direction the sky lantern was from," they said.
Lantern Festival was celebrated nationwide yesterday.
One common tradition during the festival is the launching of huge sky lanterns to bring good luck to loved ones.
Police urged the public to be more cautious when lighting and launching sky lanterns.
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