German military personnel involved in rescuing tourists from hotel fire in Kenya
German military personnel stationed in Mombasa were involved in helping to rescue tourists from a fire that affected a
number of beach-front hotels in the area. The fire broke out on Monday evening and spread rapidly to four hotels.
According to the German Foreign Office, no one was injured in the fire. German Embassy officials were sent to Mombasa to
help deal with the situation.
A German naval air reconnaissance unit stationed in Mombasa had noticed the fire and after pinpointing the location
contacted Kenyan authorities. The Kenyan police then requested assistance from the naval contingent.
A group of forty German military personnel used small buses to help evacuate the affected tourists and find new hotel
accommodations for them. In a television interview aired on September 2 a German naval captain on the scene reported
that no one had been injured and that none of the tourists had been reported missing. The cause of the fire has not yet
been determined.
The German Ambassador was immediately informed of the incident by the German military as well as by Kenyan authorities
in Mombasa. A spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin said embassy officials had been sent to Mombasa to help take
care of the evacuated tourists.
German military in Kenya
A small German armed forces contingent was stationed in Kenya (Mombasa) in the framework of Operation Enduring Freedom
to help in the fight against international terrorism. German navy pilots carry out reconnaissance flights in support of
naval units stationed in Djibouti. The naval units and the naval air reconnaissance unit have orders to monitor ship
movements in the area around the Horn of Africa. A key objective is to interdict the transport of persons and goods
(e.g. weapons, ammunition, drugs) that could be used to support international terrorism.
The German naval pilots are housed in a hotel complex in Mombasa that is used exclusively for military purposes. At the
present time the German military contingent there totals about 130 men and women who support and fly three
"Breguet-Atlantic" naval reconnaissance aircraft.