Kenya Airways Flight Makes Emergency Landing

A Kenya Airways plane with 56 passengers on board made an emergency landing in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after an engine caught fire.

The Cairo-bound Boeing 737-700 took off from Khartoum after a scheduled stopover following a flight from Nairobi. But it had to return to the Sudanese capital after 20 minutes.

Nobody was hurt, but the incident on Tuesday night left passengers stranded in a country difficult for travel because credit cards do not work in Sudan due to US trade sanctions.

"An engine caught fire and the plane suddenly lost much altitude. The pilot made a sharp turn and returned to Khartoum," said Souhair Mohamed Hawala, an Egyptian passenger. "There was panic on board. People were crying or praying."

Other passengers showed what they said were pictures from the damaged wing and engine of the plane.

A Kenya Airways official said the plane had returned with an unspecified "engine problem" and needed to be repaired in Sudan. "We don't know the cause yet," he said, adding passengers would be booked on the airline's next available flight out of Sudan.