I arrived through 2E yesterday morning and was returning there this morning to use the lounge prior to taking a DL flight when it became apparent that something was badly wrong. At first I thought that there may be a disaster drill under way but as I saw the strained faces and tears it was apparent that this was no drill. I counted over 40 emergency vehicles at one point.

My DL flight eventually took off by using a gate in 2F with buses to an apron stand. In the buses, pax who had arrived later in the morning were largely unaware of what had happened. There were the usual complaints of being held captive in CDG buses with the doors closed. Those subsided when some of us spread the word as to why there was so much confusion. I've never been a great fan of the logistics at CDG but I would say that they handled the problems this morning as well as could be expected.

On board, the DL flight captain offered condolences to the friends and familes of those involved.

I would be surprised if 2E reopened anytime soon. The section that collapsed is similar in construction to the rest of the gate access / waiting area section. While it would be possible to screen off the damaged half while repairs were carried out I suspect that no use of any of the 17 gates will be possible until they figure out what caused this collapse. If the gates are not available then the shopping and lounge section are not of much use.

It is a mercy that this did not happen later in the morning. The death toll would have been significantly higher if that had been the case.