Cabinet secretary says investigation under way after fire at Kenya's airport

       
International flights began landing and taking off from Nairobi's fire-damaged airport on Thursday, but officials said the full slate of overseas flights has not yet resumed.             

Michael Kamau, cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure, said that Kenya Airways, the country's flagship carrier, was currently operating at around "35 percent capacity".           

He said the airline would return to full capacity by midnight Thursday and the airport would also resume normal service by then.             

Kamau said a full investigation into the cause of the fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will be carried out over the coming weeks.           

A small fire at Kenya's main airport swelled into a roaring inferno on Wednesday and destroyed part of East Africa's largest aviation hub and hampered air travel across the continent.          

Firefighters were desperately short of equipment in an area where the county government apparently lacks a single working fire engine.            

The early morning blaze gutted the arrival hall, forcing authorities to close the entire airport and airlines to cancel dozens of flights.            

The flames also charred airport banks and foreign exchange bureaus.                

No serious injuries were reported.


AP