07/08/2013 15:19
Fire engulfs Kenya's Nairobi airport
A fire engulfed Kenya's main airport on Wednesday forcing the closure of a vital travel and trade gateway to east Africa, Reuters reported.
Flames from the inferno lit up the early morning sky, and the intense heat repeatedly drove back firefighters. A huge plume of black smoke billowed from the airport buildings, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or injuries.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded outside Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital Nairobi, which was cordoned off to keep the public out after the fire started early in the morning in the arrivals and immigration area, officials said.
The cause of the worst fire in record at east Africa's busiest airport was not yet known.