20120606
AFP
Kenya's main airport in Nairobi will reopen as soon as possible after an aircraft veered off the runway, causing no casualties but forcing flights to divert, officials said Wednesday.

"The airport will be opened as soon as the obstacle is removed and the go-ahead is given by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority," the Kenya Airports Authority said in a statement.

Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport is the biggest in the region and is the key hub for international flights, although the Kenyan capital has a second airport that handles several regional and domestic flights.

"At 03:36 hours today, an EgyptAir 849 plane carrying 123 passengers from Cairo upon landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport veered off the runway," the airports authority said.

"All passengers and crew were safely evacuated to the terminal building even as all emergencies operations at the airport, including fire and rescue, were activated immediately."

Planes were diverted to neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania as well as to Kenya's port city of Mombasa.

"Operations will resume to normal shortly, people should not panic," said aiport police official Joseph Ngisa. "There were no injuries at all, everyone was evacuated to safety."