The air-traffic control tower at Melbourne Airport in Australia's Victoria state was evacuated on Tuesday due to smoke from bushfires in the region.

According to media reports, all flights to and from Melbourne Airport were grounded. A spokeswoman for Airservices Australia confirmed to the media that air-traffic control workers were evacuated at about 2.15 p.m. (10:15 p.m. EST, Monday) local time.

“We are aware of it and we are investigating. I’m told it’s due to smoke. At this stage that’s all we know,” The Age quoted the spokeswoman as saying, adding that the smoke from the bushfires was the cause of the immediate evacuation.

However, just after 2.30 p.m. local time, Airservices Australia tweeted that staff had been instructed to return to the tower as conditions were under control.

“Staff at #Melb tower evacuated due to smoke from bush fires. Tower now safe to return to - normal ops will resume shortly,” @AirservicesNews tweeted.

Australia