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Nairobi airport closed temporarily after plane makes emergency landing

It was not immediately clear when flights would resume

Reuters November 27, 2016

Kenya Airways Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with a sitting capacity of 400 passengers, arrives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi October 25, 2013. REUTERS/Noor Khamis

NAIROBI: A plane from Somalia landed on its belly and veered off the runway at Nairobi's international airport on Sunday, causing no casualties but prompting the authorities to temporarily close the runway.

Kenya Airports Authority said on Twitter that the plane had four people on board when it made the emergency landing at 4.55 p.m. (1355 GMT) at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Jambo, at 4.55PM today, an aircraft from Somalia made an Emergency Landing at JKIA. It landed on its belly & veered off the Runway. 1/2
— Kenya Airports Authority (@KenyaAirports) November 27, 2016

It had 4 souls on board. No casualties reported. As a result the runway is temporarily closed to evacuate aircraft. 2/2
— Kenya Airports Authority (@KenyaAirports) November 27, 2016

"As a result the runway is temporarily closed to evacuate aircraft," the authority said, without giving any details about the flight or type of plane.

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It was not immediately clear when flights would resume. Officials said flights were being diverted to other airports, a Reuters witness reported nearly four hours after the incident.