By REUBEN KYAMA and NICOLA CLARK
NAIROBI, Kenya — The Kenyan authorities ordered the temporary closing on Wednesday of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport here in Nairobi after a huge fire broke out and raged for four hours, officials and witnesses said. The blaze spread to the international arrivals area, bringing East Africa’s busiest airport to a standstill and turning parts of it into charred ruins.
By midafternoon, Michael Kamau, a senior government transportation official, told reporters that the airport had been partially reopened for domestic and cargo flights, but international passenger traffic was still suspended. Airport authorities planned to convert another part of the facility to a temporary terminal for international passenger flights, he said.
The blaze sent a plume of black smoke that was visible from Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, a few miles away, witnesses said. Visiting the gutted section of the circular, 1960s-era terminal, Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, said there was no loss of life but expressed dismay over the damage and the disruption the blaze had caused to air travelers, said Manoah Esipisu, a presidential spokesman. The cause of the fire was being investigated, he added.
Kenya is a key Western ally, abutting troubled areas of neighboring Somalia. But Mr. Kenyatta and other Kenyan officials were reluctant to make any immediate link to terrorism. Wednesday, Aug. 7, is the anniversary of the 1998 coordinated bombings of American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, attacks that killed more than 200 people.
“There is no reason to speculate at this point,” Mr. Esipisu said.
Nairobi is an essential hub for sub-Saharan passenger traffic, transporting 6.3 million passengers a year on more than 40 international airlines from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the rest of Africa. It is also a vital cargo link, particularly for the export of fresh produce, cut flowers and other perishable goods from across East Africa — an important source of foreign currency. The airport handled around 279,000 tons of freight in 2011, according to Airports Council International, second only to Johannesburg, which handled 336,000 tons.
Source: New York Times
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