Scared me to death! Luggage suddenly caught fire at Milan airport, I can't imagine if the plane had taken off

This incident was reported on August 18, 2026, at Milan's Malpensa Airport in Italy. At the time, there was a British Airways flight, and luggage was being loaded onto the plane. Then a suitcase filled with passenger luggage suddenly started smoking, and then caught fire! People on the scene all said that if this had happened after the plane took off, it would be a major disaster.

Fortunately, the airport fire department arrived quickly, put out the fire, and no one was injured. But that flight was out of luck and was forced to delay its departure.

Many netizens are asking, didn't all checked luggage go through security? How could dangerous items still be brought on? Actually, airport security usually uses X-ray machines to check, but there are so many electronic products nowadays – phones, tablets, computers, watches, earphones, e-cigarettes, power banks – all have batteries. Some high-capacity batteries and ordinary batteries are not very clear on the screen, and on top of that, some people don't follow the rules and don't honestly declare, stuffing batteries in their luggage, so security screening is hard to stop.

So now airlines are very strict about batteries. Items with high-capacity batteries and power banks absolutely cannot be placed in checked luggage and must be carried on. Why? Because if a fire breaks out in the cabin, everyone can discover it immediately and put it out. If it's in the cargo hold below, it's enclosed and unmonitored, and if a fire starts, there's really no way to handle it.

Investigators are still looking into what exactly happened. They think it may have been caused by electronic devices in the suitcase, with lithium batteries being the most suspicious. Anyway, this time it was a close call. Next time we fly, let's just honestly carry our power banks on board!