African press review 12 August 2013

Today's papers tackle the on-going investigation of last week's fire at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport; and the death toll rises after heavy rains continue in both Sudan and now Uganda. 

The Nairobi-based East African reports on the investigation into last week’s fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JFIA).

President Kenyatta announced the construction of a new terminal in the upcoming week, putting safety concerns and measures into the spotlight, reports the paper.

Fire incidents frequently occur aboard aircrafts, and therefore the air transport industry has based its emergency responses around air crashes and fuel-related fires, explains the East African, but the JKIA fire showed that there are also risks in airports.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) does require airports to conduct annual emergency drills, reports the daily, but for a variety of reasons, including limited resources, these drills tend to focus more on crash and fuel fire scenarios than structural fires.

According to air safety experts interviewed by the paper, the fire at JKIA - which at this stage is considered as non-aviation related - could have happened at any large public building, such as a stadium or a major shopping centre.

But as the investigation begins, one question remains on everyone’s minds, writes the East African: how did an apparently small fire spiral out of control?

The Sudan Tribune reports on the death of at least ten people, including eight family members, in heavy rains in Sudan’s twin capital of Omdurman.

Local officials reported that at least 10 people were killed near Ombadda, says the paper, due to heavy rain that lasted for more than eight hours, while over 3,000 houses were damaged or completely destroyed.

The authorities warned of more floods to come and urged locals to remain cautious, while calling for the help and support of NGOs, reports the Tribune.

The Sudanese Red Crescent Society and the Commission for Voluntary and Humanitarian Work estimate that 98,500 people were affected by heavy rains and flash floods across the region, between 1 and 4 of August, says the paper.

Drainage is poor in the capital of Sudan, explains the daily, and even a little rain can cause flooding, but this year’s water surge was unusually severe.

In Uganda, heavy rains have also led to a tragic death, that of a four-year-old boy who died in mudslides this weekend in the eastern region of Bududa, reports the country’s Daily Monitor.

Following the mudslides, at least 11 victims, mostly children under five years old, who had sustained wide-ranging injuries, remained under observation at Bududa hospital, reports the Monitor.

The Ugandan government announced it would be setting up a transit camp to register and offer help to victims, says the paper, while asking the Uganda Red Cross Society to lead the rapid mapping of damage, establish the number of victims and manage the distribution of aid.

The South African Mail & Guardian headlines with the Zimbabwean police’s active search for two journalists who wrote an article about a secret uranium export deal between Zimbabwe and Iran.

The journalists, who work for the British newspaper The Times, are wanted for "spreading falsehoods" after the uranium deal story was published in the London paper on Saturday, reports the paper.

Quoting the country’s outgoing deputy minister of mines, The Times published that Zimbabwe signed a deal with Iran to supply the Islamic republic with the raw materials needed to develop a nuclear weapon, explains the Mail and Guardian.

Although Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy uses, the US and the EU have imposed crippling sanctions fear is intended to build an atomic bomb, explains the paper, adding that President Robert Mugabe, who won another five-year term last month, publicly backed Iran's nuclear drive.