Shoppers pour into reopened Kenyan mall nearly 2 years after terror attack
A survivor is among first to return to site where gunmen killed 67 people
It was the site of a mass killing and a national embarrassment. But when Nairobi’s Westgate mall reopened on Saturday morning, shoppers and politicians poured through the security scanner into the glittering, light-filled interior in a rare moment of hope and closure.
Ben Mulwa, 34, a survivor of the September 2013 terrorist attack in the Kenyan capital that left at least 67 people dead, was among the first five to escape after hiding in a flower bed as four terrorists walked by him. Their calm, expressionless faces haunt him to this day.
He was one of the first to return on Saturday, coming, he said, “to finish that business that brought me to Westgate mall”, a lunch meeting with a friend.
“Today is an inspirational moment for us,” Mulwa said. “Many people didn’t make it, as we did. Today, we are excited because we are back on our feet, and we can convince the world that terrorism is not bringing us down any time soon.”
The assault was carried out by the four gunmen who passed Mulwa by. The militants from the Somali group al-Shabab launched a siege that dragged on for days, with initial fears that their numbers might be greater and dozens of people might be held hostage. The gunmen freed those who could recite a Muslim profession of faith and shot down others, including children.