- Title: KENYA: Kenya to resume international flights after fire
- Date: 8th August 2013
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (AUGUST 8, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE OF AIRPORT TERMINAL VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS CHECKING IN VARIOUS OF STRANDED PASSENGERS WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (English) CABINET SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT, MICHAEL KAMAU, SAYING: "This morning we received international flights mainly from Kenya Airways from Bangkok, from London and fro
- Embargoed: 23rd August 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVAC9JVS7SARGMPBYELYN66XNFUV
- Story Text: Kenya said it would reopen its main airport at midnight on Thursday (August 8) (2100GMT) after a fire on Wednesday (August 7) forced the suspension of international and cargo flights, choking a vital gateway to east Africa.
"This morning we received international flights mainly from Kenya Airways from Bangkok, from London and from France. And we are now going to have international departures and from midnight today, we are opening up the airport for full operations," Michael Kamau, cabinet secretary for transport, told journalists at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Kamau said that the Kenyan authorities were being assisted by foreign organisations in their investigations.
"We have cordoned off the area and we are receiving assistance in the investigation, from other international agencies because we intend to carry out a full investigation on what happened and that's ongoing," Kamau said.
A temporary terminal will be built at the airport, said Kamau.
"Before we bring in Terminal 4 into operations, which was slated for completion March next year, we are going to put up a temporary terminal that can handle 1.5 million people and we will see when we can bring it in, and it can be a matter of days or weeks when we decide on the modalities of what we are going to do," said Kamau.
Investigators say it is too early to ascertain the cause of the fire, though they have ruled out terrorism, and officials say they will build a makeshift international arrivals terminal within days.
The fire, which destroyed a large part of the international departures section, was a blow to Kenya at the start of the peak tourism season. The airport was operating at more than twice its 2.5 million passenger capacity. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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