Nairobi, Jan 15: Terrorists attacked an upscale hotel complex in Kenya’s capital Tuesday, sending people fleeing in panic as explosions and heavy gunfire reverberated through the neighbourhood. A witness reported seeing at least two bodies.
Al-Shabab, the Somalia-based extremist group that carried out the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi that left 67 people dead, claimed responsibility for the assault and said its members were still fighting inside.
Several vehicles burned. People were rushed, some carried, from the scene. At least one was on a stretcher. Some ducked behind cars, screaming. Others appeared to take cover behind fountains and other features in the lush outdoor complex.
The complex in Nairobi’s Westlands neighborhood includes a large hotel known as DusitD2, along with banks and offices.
“It is terrible. What I have seen is terrible. I have seen a human as I ran out and there is what looks like minced meat all over,” said one man who said he ran from the scene, Charles Njenga.
Another man, who did not give his name, said he hid in an office.
“I have been hiding. My colleagues were running everywhere,” he said, breathing heavily.
Another witness, Robert Murire, said he saw at least two bodies at the scene, along with attackers wearing green and wrapped in ammunition.
It was not clear how many attackers took part.
Gunfire continued several minutes after the first reports as ambulances, security forces and firefighters rushed to the scene. Black smoke rose from the complex. A bomb disposal unit arrived, and vehicles were cordoned off for fear they contained explosives.
Police said they detonated a car that had explosives inside. An unexploded grenade was also seen in a hallway at the complex.