Fire disrupts departure terminal at Nairobi’s JKIA

One departure terminal at the busy Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi was closed Thursday midmorning after a fire sparked by a baggage system malfunction forced authorities to evacuate passengers and staff.

There were no injuries in the incident, which occurred just before midnight on Wednesday at what is the main gateway into the East African country, the KAA said in a statement. “All passengers and staff at the terminal were evacuated safely and the fire contained by the airport’s fire team,” it said.

The KAA did not say whether any flights had been disrupted. Flight operations at the affected terminal had been moved to an adjacent terminal while authorities worked to reopen it.

Apart from the national carrier, Kenya Airways, which uses Jomo Kenyatta as its hub, the airport also serves airlines including Emirates, Turkish Airways, British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.

The airport suffered severe flight disruptions in August 2013 when it was engulfed by a fire.