Scene of fight between two groups of men in departure lounge of Belfast International Airport on Saturday night

POLICE have launched an investigation after a fight broke out between two groups of men at Belfast International Airport last night.

The incident happened on Saturday night in the departures lounge of the Co Antrim airport as crowds of passengers looked on in horror.

Footage from the scene circulating on social media shows one man armed with a metal pole charging at another individual, swinging the weapon wildly.

A fire extinguisher, rubbish bins and metal baskets are also thrown during the altercation, which lasted for around 20 minutes before police intervened.

One video of the trouble on Twitter has been viewed almost 40,000 times as of Sunday morning.

A Belfast International Airport spokesperson said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“An altercation between two groups of passengers occurred on Saturday evening in the airside departures area.

“Both the airport police and PSNI were in attendance and the incident has since been resolved. An investigation into the incident is now ongoing.”

A PSNI spokersperson said: “PSNI provided assistance to Airport police following a report of an incident at Belfast International Airport yesterday evening.

“The matter is being dealt with by Airport Police.”