A sinkhole opened up on a runway at Rhodes International Airport in Greece on Tuesday, causing the airport to temporarily shut down.
Some of the stranded passengers, many of them vacationers from the UK, were delayed for 24 hours as they waited for contractors to repair the runway.
Rhodes airport runway is damaged and all flights diverted to Crete... Looks like we're stuck here for another night— Isobel Holmes (@izzyaholmes) September 22, 2015
"The airport was closed for 14 hours, the runway has since been repaired and reopened at 6 a.m. this morning (UK time)," Thomson Airways, one of the airlines affected by the closure, said in a statement. Contractors took 10 hours to repair the eight-meter hole. Once the hole was filled, flights resumed within an hour.
The sinkhole was caused by a crack previously on the tarmac that had been repaired, but reopened, growing much larger after the torrential downpour.
The delays spurred strong reactions on Twitter from passengers stuck at the airport:
This is the situation at Rhodes airport.100 people not aware what's going on! pic.twitter.com/AJnsfOthcl— Antoine Sahyoun (@AntoineSahyoun) September 23, 2015
Stranded in #Rhodes want to get back to Exeter airport #helpus @BBCDevon #bringushome— Ashley Jones (@AshleyDaveJones) September 23, 2015
Here's the hole in the runway at Rhodes airport pic.twitter.com/9fwnYReQc0— Amii (@amii0484) September 23, 2015
Travelers complained of long lines, a lack of information, and poor organization for passengers who were stranded overnight.
Delayed flight frm Rhodes to mcr...3 reps,100s of people.#holidaynightmare @DailyMirror @TUIGroup pic.twitter.com/ahZUogBggN— Ellie D (@MooBake) September 23, 2015
Rhodes to MCR flight delayed since 2am. @TUIGroup send 300+ people to hotel with only 90 rooms and no reps. Nice pic.twitter.com/dUhlctTV3B— Not the Jim Morrison (@JM0rrison) September 23, 2015