Source: Reuter

A big fire on Wednesday burned down Kenya's Nairobi International Airport. As a result, the most important and busiest gateway in East Africa handling 16,000 travelers daily was closed as flights were diverted to other airports. The airport is expected to remain close for a few days.

Planes from London, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Mumbai, Dubai and Doha and eight regional cities were diverted to the Mombasa and Eldoret Airports in Kenya.

The Telegraph reports that the blaze began at about 5 am at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, particularly the Immigration and Arrivals Unit. Flames enveloped the two-floor building and spread to the departure terminals.

Source: Kenyanaviation.com

One passenger who arrived from Johannesburg said there was a huge explosion insider the terminal building while he was still inside the plane. However, Eric Kiraithe, the head of security at Kenya Airports Authority, said the explosion was likely caused by the intensity of the fire and not by a bomb.

The suspicion of a terrorist attack could not be erased because it was the 15th anniversary on the same day of the al-Qaeda suicide attacks on American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, killing 223 people.

But authorities said there was no indication that the blaze was caused by a terror attack, but likely an accident.

The Kenyan Red Cross said there was no report yet of any casualty, but two people were treated for inhaling smoke.

More details of the fire in this video.