Fire engulfs Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

Hundreds of passengers were stranded outside Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital Nairobi, which was cordoned off to keep the public out after the fire started early in the morning in the arrivals and immigration area, officials said. 

The cause of the worst fire in record at east Africa's busiest airport was not yet known. 

"We are still fighting to contain the fire. Investigations will start immediately after," Michael Kamau, cabinet secretary for transport, told reporters at the airport. "The fire started at a very central part of the airport and this made access difficult. But we have closed the airport indefinitely as we try to contain the fire." 

He added that no plane had landed or departed since the fire started, and said he could not give any indication of when the airport would reopen. Airlines that wanted to take off without passengers have been allowed to do so, he said.