Kenya Airport Blaze Cause Flights Distracted
Video: A large fire has closed Kenya's main international airportKenya's main international airport has been closed as firefighters tackle a large blaze in the arrivals area.
Inbound flights have been rerouted to other Kenyan airports while the fire continues to burn at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
Eyewitnesses say the billowing smoke can be seen from miles away, and stranded passengers are standing on pavements outside the airport holding their luggage.
"It was huge, the smoke billowing, and it didn't seem to be stopping," said Barry Fisher, who had hoped to fly to Ethiopia but was turned away.
A British passenger, Martyn Collbeck, said he was surprised that the airport wasn't shut down sooner so that emergency vehicles could respond.
"When I arrived there were one or two fire engines parked outside the international arrivals, it spread very fast," said Mr Collbeck, who had been scheduled to fly back to London on an early morning KLM flight.
"There were a couple of explosions which I think were a couple of gas canisters. I would have expected more fire engines to respond faster."
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."
The fire comes less than 48 hours after a fuel jet pump failure caused huge delays at the airport, forcing some flights to be rerouted to the airport in the coastal town of Mombasa, Uganda and Rwanda.
"No planes are departing or arriving - only emergency landings will be allowed," said an official from the Civil Aviation Authority.
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