Powerbank thrown by angry passenger catches fire at Istanbul airport

An external battery pack thrown by an angry passenger caught fire at Istanbul's Ataturk airport, according to the airport operator.

Due to an electronic devices ban on flights to the UK, the passenger was asked to hand over the external battery pack on Thursday July 6, but he refused. 

"A passenger declined to surrender a power bank embarking on a UK-bound flight. During the argument, he crashed the item on a hard surface and the power bank caught fire," TAV Airports said on its official Twitter account.

"No one was injured during the incident," TAV added. 

The passenger, who claimed he was 10 metres away, shared an image with smoke in front of the boarding gate.

He also added, "In the drama, a whole bunch of us went through without having our hand luggage checked, myself included, so I hope this was not a distraction."