Carnage as militants storm Nairobi's upmarket Westgate shopping mall
Militants take hostages after killing 22 in posh Nairobi neighbourhood
An upscale mall popular with the Kenyan elite and the foreign diplomats and businesspeople who call Nairobi their home turned into a war zone yesterday, as gunmen opened fire on shoppers in an apparent terrorist attack, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more.
At nightfall, the mall remained sealed off to the public as police officers and soldiers searched floor by floor for the gunmen, who were still believed to be inside with hostages.
"The attackers have been isolated and are pinned down in an area on one of the floors. The rest of the mall seems to be secure," a security source said.
A witness to the attacks said that gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted.
The Somali militant group al-Shabab had threatened to strike the Westgate mall, popular with the city's expatriate community; but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The attack started with several blasts at about 12.30pm at the mall, west of the city centre, and was followed by shooting, causing panicked shoppers to flee the building or try to hide.
Manish Turohit, 18, said he saw gunmen, which some reports said numbered up to 10, with AK-47s and vests with hand grenades on them inside the mall before he escaped to hide in a parking garage for two hours.