Kenya airport closed after massive fire
Flights have been cancelled and passengers evacuated after a huge fire broke out at Kenya’s main airport.
Hundreds of passengers remain stranded outside Nairobi airport after a fire started early this morning in the arrivals and immigration area.
Huge black billows of smoke were seen coming out of the building as firefighters battled the fire, but its intensity made access difficult. There have been no reports of casualties.
Some passengers said they heard small explosions, but the cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed.
Other media reported complaints that fire crews were slow to respond. Nairobi’s fire service had recently been criticised for lack of facilities.
Kenya’s transport secretary Kamau said he did not know when the airport, the busiest in East Africa, would re-open.
He said airlines that wanted to take off without passengers have been allowed to do so.
Kenya Airways said it was diverting some flights to Mombasa and that transit passengers were being taken to hotels.
Other flights have been cancelled, including British Airways’ flights to and from London Heathrow.
Kuoni, which operates a significant programme to Kenya, said its operations team is working closely with ground agents in Kenya to ensure that any customers who are currently in resort and impacted by the closure of the airport, or are due to arrive today, are contacted and their itineraries amended accordingly.
"Customers will be contacted on a rolling basis until the airport reopens," it said.
* Picture from @segeni
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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