A huge fire closed down Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Wednesday (August 7) causing inbound flights to be diverted to other airports.
The blaze appears to have broken out in the early hours of the morning in the international arrivals hall at east Africa’s largest airport and its closure is likely to have a knock-on effect in other countries in the region.
Transport secretary Michael Kamau said: “The fire started at a very central part of the airport and this made access difficult. But we have closed the airport indefinitely as we try to contain the fire.” Kenya Airways Ltd., sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest airline by passenger numbers, has cancelled all flights, according to an e-mailed statement today (Wednesday).
The fire broke out on the 15th anniversary of an attack on the US Embassy in Nairobi in which 224 people died. There were no immediate signs of terrorism and authorities are keeping an open mind as to the cause of the inferno. Kenya’s anti-terror police boss, Boniface Mwaniki, told The Associated Press that he was waiting for the fire to be put out so that he could inspect the scene before making a judgment.
In addition to the re-routing of inbound traffic, outbound flights were grounded while firefighters struggled to get the blaze under control.
“We reassure international and local travellers that arrangements are being put in place to restore normal operations. The airlines are working to assist stranded passengers and advise them on the measures being put in place to resume services at JKIA,” said Stephen Gichuki, the director of the Kenyan Airports Authority.
The fire comes less than 48 hours after a fuel jet pump failure caused huge delays at the airport, forcing some flights to be re-routed to the airport in the coastal town of Mombasa and to Uganda and Rwanda.
