UPDATE 2-Departures from Rome's Ciampino airport blocked by tiny fire

Departures from Rome's Ciampino airport, which is used by budget airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air, were blocked for much of Tuesday after a small fire broke out in the terminal basement, airport authorities said.

Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), which manages the site, said the early morning fire was put out "in less than a minute" and photographs from the scene suggested that only some cardboard had been burnt, with no significant damage reported. While the arrivals hall was swiftly reopened, the departures area remained sealed off hours after the event, causing an unspecified number of flights to be cancelled.

A source at ADR, who declined to be named, said that the smell of smoke was lingering in the building and that the local health authority had not yet ruled that the air was safe. Passengers were evacuated to a nearby carpark, with many left there for hours awaiting news of their trips. Some flights were diverted to Rome's main airport Fiumicino.

ADR said they believed the fire had been started deliberately, adding that they had filed a complaint with local magistrates. (Reporting by Stefano Bernabei; editing by John Stonestreet and Crispian Balmer)