FBI joins fire probe

Detectives from the American FBI and Israeli Mossad have joined investigations into Wednesday’s fire which destroyed the international arrivals section of Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Their involvement suggests that investigators are keen to confirm or eliminate the theory that terrorism could have been responsible for the inferno that temporarily shut the airport and caused massive disruptions to air travel to and from various destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Another line being pursued by investigators is whether internal sabotage could have been the cause of the fire.

Questions were raised about the slow response by workers when the fire started. Witnesses said they saw smoke followed by a small fire which could have easily been extinguished had the response been faster.

A security official told the Nation that the international interest was huge because the fire occurred on the 15th anniversary of the August 7, 1998, twin terrorist bombings on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.

The US had issued a major terror alert in the region as the anniversary approached and even closed down its embassies across North Africa and the Middle East, Rwanda and Burundi. Nairobi was not affected by the closures.

Involvement of the FBI and Mossad is not by itself an indication that terrorism is suspected, but a normal precaution where nothing is ruled out until cleared by investigators.

Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau yesterday said the investigations needed to establish the cause of the fire for necessary action to be taken.

“There are different agencies even from out of the country involved in the probe and they are working tirelessly to come to the root cause of the fire,” he said.

A source close to the investigations said FBI agents started working with the local investigators early while the Mossad team is expected to join them later.

The Kenyan detectives leading the investigations have been drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the National Intelligence Service, Ministry of Transport and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).

The members are experts in various fields including forensic analysis, intelligence, scene of crime management and bomb experts. Kenya Power engineers were also part of the investigating teams.

So far more than 100 members of staff at the airport have been interrogated. However, by yesterday, the officer who was in charge of the night shift had not recorded her statement.

Officers in charge of the airport fire service were also grilled for the second time yesterday over the slow response and allegations that fire engines arrived in good time but the firefighters failed to attack the blaze claiming that they were waiting for orders from the command office.

The detectives are also looking into a possible electric fault, negligence or arson aimed at sabotaging KAA operations.

Some top KAA officials admitted that security at the airport was not as tight as was expected. Even some of the staff who had been fired had not returned their passes, implying that they could easily access critical areas within the airport.

The KAA’s Safety and Security manager, Mr Eric Kiraithe, admitted that it was possible for a sacked worker to have a pass if the employer did not take it immediately the employee was fired.

The exact area where the fire started had by yesterday afternoon not been fully accessed by the investigators.

KAA engineers were yet to establish the cost of the damage, estimated to run into millions of shillings. Mr Kamau however said the building needed “renovation”.

The president of the African Development Bank, Mr Donald Kaberuka, and World Bank’s senior executives have offered to finance the rehabilitation of the airport.