Hundreds Stranded In Melbourne

Australian health officials are investigating Monday's shutdown emergency shutdown of the south terminal at Melbourne Airport, after more than 50 people had to be treated for nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath. The terminal was evacuated and closed down for eight hours. Hundreds of passengers were still stranded early Tuesday morning as the two airlines that operate from that terminal, Virgin Blue and Regional Express, worked feverishly to arrange flights and make accommodations.

Even so, a lot of those passengers ended up spending the night in the very terminal from which they were evacuated.

"There will be a report from all of the agencies involved and a debrief in the next couple of days on what the cause was, the way it was handled and what the next step will be, if there is a next step," airport spokesman Geoffrey Conaghan told the Australian Broadcasting Company.

Several Virgin Blue flights to Melbourne were canceled during the evacuation. Still more were canceled on Tuesday as authorities searched for a cause to the mysterious illnesses. At news time, the airline was scrambling to get whatever aircraft it could to Melbourne to get those stranded passengers to their destinations.

FMI: www.melbourne-airport.com.au