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EXCLUSIVE: Kenyan athletes stranded after KQ staff bungle flight bookings


A batch of Kenyan athletes are currently stranded in the Republic of Congo after their travel arrangements were mishandled by staff of the the national carrier Kenya Airways.

The team of  21 athletes and officials affiliated to the kickboxing and wrestling disciplines spent the whole of Monday idling at the Maya Maya airport in Brazzavile after they were denied boarding passes by Kenya Airway staff.

The athletes were returning home after competing at the just concluded All African Games.

The team, which included chief de mission Gordon Oluoch and Sports Council representative Charles Nyaberi, had already checked out of their hotels and had no where to return to.

Kenyan athletes at the Maya Maya airport on September 21, 2015. PHOTO | NAIROBI NEWS
Kenyan athletes at the Maya Maya airport on September 21, 2015. PHOTO | NAIROBI NEWS

Kenya Airways has since made amends by booking the athletes at the Leone hotel as they wait for the next flight back home.

The airline is struggling to stay afloat amid soaring debt and stiff competition from its continental peers.

“There was a mix up in communication between the KQ offices in Nairobi and Brazzavile. The only downside is when the company employees at the airport refused to handle our situation with the urgency it deserves. They simply brushed us away,” a source in the team told Nairobi News.

Efforts to get a comment from Kenya Airways officials in Nairobi and the Ministry of Sports on Tuesday morning proved futile.

The athletes are expected back home on Wednesday.