Police follow leads into cause of JKIA fire

Posted by: The People in National August 8, 2013

By LUKE AWICH, KINYURU MUNUHE and SAMWEL OWINO

Detectives and fire experts were last night scouring through ash and debris seeking clues to what might have caused a devastating fire that gutted Jomo Kenyatta International Airport’s arrivals lounge. Security sources said President Uhuru Kenyatta, who toured the scene of devastation yesterday morning, issued a closed door stern order to his national security chiefs to get to the bottom of the damage and tell him what caused the fire.

The President’s order was followed by intense initial investigations that started poking many questions into how the fire, that started at about 4.30am, spread so fast out of control at Kenya’s international travel hub that has high security and devices for emergency preparedness. Initial police investigations last night were questioning why a modern fire alert system did not go off when smoke billowed, while they were also pursuing a claim that a CCTV system in affected section may have been off.

Security sources said a large contingent of detectives and fire experts will round the clock at the scene to meet the President’s order for a clear cut answer to what caused the fire. The fire was the culmination of a week of problems at JKIA, after Duty Free shops belonging to tycoon Kamlesh Pattni were raided by auctioneers last week, and flights flights were delayed on Monday by what was described as failure of a pump at the jet fuel filling system. The early morning fire yesterday halted operations at JKIA leading to indefinite closure of the country’s main international airport.

The 4.30am inferno which, according to witnesses, started in one corner of the Immigration section of International arrivals lounge and part of departure lounges, forced rescheduling of incoming international flights to Mombasa, Kisumu Eldoret airports. No casualty was reported in the the fire whose cause remained a mystery, although two people had to be rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital after inhalation of thick smoke fumes.

The two passengers, Ahmed Mo- hammed, a Sudanese national aged 23 and another identified only as Majdi were heading to Khartoum during the incident. Both were said to be in stable condition last night. Passengers at the arrivals and departure lounges were evacuated quickly and all incoming flights diverted when fire broke out. A dark pall of smoke could be seen billowing into the sky at dawn across much of the expanse of the airport area, as the fire ate up much of the arrivals hall.

Witnesses said the flames were so intense and spreading fast that even the fire fighting teams that arrived at the scene first made no impact to it as they directed hoses of foam and water to it. Tim Omondi, an employee of Mason Cleaning Services, who was on assignment in the building, said the fire started as a small smoke around 4.30am and may have been underestimated by staff on duty.

“I reported to work on Tuesday 5 pm at the building and did the normal cleaning up to 2 am when I dozed off, before waking up few minutes after because Ethiopian Airlines was expected around 4.30am. There was some smoke from one side of the arrivals, then people started yelling, fire, fire,” recalled Omondi.

By last evening, though normalcy was slowly returning to the airport, police were still piecing together details that could help them unravel the mystery behind the inferno that paralysed operations at the largest and busiest airport in East and Central Africa. Though both police and senior government officials remained guarded on the incident, sources intimated that detectives were trying to follow possible leads…..electric fault, arson or an explosion caused by gas leakage or some man made gadget.

Police were also probing if any electric cables may have been left exposed in vulnerable areas, during last week’s raid by auctioneers on Duty Free shops. The airport authorities cancelled all landings and take-offs, except for emergency flights, until late in the afternoon when the government announced resumption of domestic and cargo operations after getting the nod from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) to use Unit 3 of the airport. It took a combined force of fire fighters drawn the military, Group Four Services (G4S), National Youth Service (NYS) and the Nairobi County close to five hours to contain the fire which left passengers and the airport workers stranded.

President Uhuru, who arrived at the scene at about 8am, assessed the dam- age before convening a crisis meeting with the top leadership of Kenya KAA and a host of high ranking security and government officials. In a statement released after the meeting, President Uhuru regretted the loss as a result of the fire and called on Kenyans to desist from speculating and to allow the probe team conclude its investigations.

The President also assured affected passengers and investors that contingency measures were being undertaken to ensure normal resumption of operations at JKIA which handles approximately 16,000 travellers a day. “I am dismayed by the disruption and loss as a result of the fire, I want to assure investors and everyone that everything is being done to ensure normal operations.

The fire has been contained and there is no reason for speculation,” said President’s statement read by State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu. Among top government officials who accompanied the President were Cabinet Secretaries Joseph ole Lenku (Interior), Michael Kamau (Transport), Anne Waiguru (Devolution) and Interior Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo.

The government formed a Committee to assesses the damage and work out on the modalities of normalising operations at the airport at the earliest time possible. The Committee is headed by Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau while KAA managing director Stephen Gichui will sit as a member.