Passengers still stranded after Kenya fire

Nairobi - Although cargo and domestic flights have resumed from Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi, international passengers still find themselves stranded. 

Eyewitness News (EWN) spoke to South African Adrian Adam who said he arrived at the airport on Wednesday morning to catch a flight.

"When we arrived we saw things were not in place as usual. The fire brigade was here and people were running out of the building. When we actually came in, some people said to us there's a fire in front of the building and their plane just landed and they had to run out. So currently we are stuck here," Adam told EWN.

SAA announced that their SA184 flight to Nairobi had been cancelled until further notice. Kenya Airways's Flight 760, which had been due to leave for Joburg at 6.35am on Wednesday had also been cancelled.

IOL reports that South Africa's High Commissioner to Kenya, Super Moloi, said that they were struggling to find out if any South Africans had been affected by the fire and needed help.

He had dispatched an official to the airport but access to the airport and information out of the airport were scarce.

The knock-on effects of the fire have also been felt further afield, as News24 Travel reader, Guy Mulopo shared his experience from Lubumbashi in the DRC. He writes:

"Was suppose to fly today on KQ (Kenya Airways) from Lubumbashi to Johannesburg via Nairobi. The KQ office told us to be on standby, as the flight might still happen. I finally decided to call the Nairobi office for an update only to have them tell me that the flight has been cancelled. KQ was not even willing to pay for my accommodation... it's 12:06 UTC here and we were suppose to leave at 11:15 UTC. Now they are saying a plane might leave from Mombasa to fetch us... Very frustrating."

Another News24 Travel reader also tweeted the following, giving a bit of insight into the conundrum many tour operators and safari companies are facing following the devastating fire:

@News24Travel my clients are scheduled to travel next wk for the great migration safari now they r all sceptical

— kariskon (@kariskon) August 7, 2013