Fire guts Kenya’s airport, international flights suspended
By Godfrey Olukya 6-8-2013
Fire has today morning gutted down a section of Kenya’s main airport, Jomo Kenyata international airport.
Reports from Kenya indicate that after the fire, Kenya’s main airport was closed and efforts were made to make it resume it’s operations.
The fire, whose source is being investigated reportedly broke out at 5am and a combined fire brigade fought against the fire for about 4 hours before putting it off. The airport was cordoned off by the paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) and air operations suspended.
President Kenyatta visited the scene at 9 am and indicated that he was shocked by the destruction of the fire. Interior Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo, confirmed the closure of the airport but added on that all was being done to re-open it.
Head of Security at Kenya Airports Authority Eric Kiraithe said that was the first time for that airport to experience such a big fire.
However, authorities at the airport have said that domestic flights are set to resume in the afternoon. But international flights have to wait for some time to resume operation.
State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said that the government was was assessing the damage at the airport and would advice when international flights will resume. He said, “We are concerned that the incident interrupted travellers schedules and appreciate that they are being routed to their destinations as soon as is possible.”
Esipisu added on that the government was working round the clock to normalise operations at the airport. He said that president Uhuru Kenyatta had assured the country and the entire aviation industry, investors, local and international travelers that everything is being done to resume normal operations.
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