A “massive” fire shut down Nairobi’s international airport on Wednesday with flights diverted to regional cities, officials said, as firefighters struggled to put out the blaze in east Africa’s most important transport hub.
“There is a serious fire at JKIA [Jomo Kenyatta International Airport], but we are doing everything possible to avert a crisis,” said Mutea Iringo, a senior official at the interior and national co-ordination ministry.
Firefighters were tackling the blaze but were “running dangerously low on water”, the interior ministry said in an appeal to traffic to give way to trucks ferrying water to the airport.
“Apart from emergency landings, all flights into and out of JKIA have been cancelled ... [the] airport has been shut down,” added Iringo.
The fire broke out shortly before dawn.
There were no initial reports of casualties, but Iringo said the fire was “massive”, adding that the arrivals and immigration sections were “totally damaged”.
