A fire engulfed Kenya's main airport on
Wednesday, forcing the suspension of
international passenger flights and choking
a vital travel gateway to east Africa.
The country's anti-terror police boss said
he did not believe that there was a terror
link to the fire even though it coincided
with the 15th anniversary of a twin attack
by Islamist militants on the United States
embassy in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the
commercial capital of neighboring
Tanzania.
Authorities said they will on Thursday
begin preparing the airport's domestic
terminal, which escaped the blaze, for
handling international flights, using tents
to create extra space. Domestic flights had
resumed by Wednesday evening, and
outward-bound cargo flights were due to
resume hours later.
The raging blaze engulfed the terminal
buildings and lit up the early morning sky,
sending billowing clouds of black smoke
rising in a plume that was visible from
miles away.
The intense heat repeatedly drove back
firefighters who battled for five hours to
put out the fire, the worst on record at
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, east
Africa's busiest.
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