Post date: Sep 23, 2013 1:52:59 PM
Kenya's interior minister revises the number of people killed in the Nairobi mall attack to 62 and says the militants set fire to mattresses causing plumes of thick smoke.
NAIROBI, KENYA (SEPTEMBER 23, 2013) (KTN) - Kenya's interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku confirmed on Monday (September 23) the number of people killed in the siege of a shopping mall in Nairobi stood at 62, raising the number of casualties by at least 3.
The Red Cross said earlier they believed 69 people had been killed. Lenku himself had earlier put the number at 59.
The minister also told the news conference in Nairobi the gunmen holed up inside the Westland shopping centre had set light to mattresses which had caused a plume of smoke to rise out of the building.The smoke billowed out on Monday after blasts were heard outside as well as gunfire. An ambulance was then later seen speeding away from the mall entrance.
"Smoke you are seeing from the building is as a result of the terrorists putting setting some mattresses on fire to distract our action. I am aware that indications are that the building has been blown off (sic) but nothing could be further from the truth. We want to assure Kenyans that our forces are in full control of the situation and we are certain in no time that the fire will be put off. The process of evacuating hostages have gone on very well and we are very certain that if any, there are very very little hostages in the building. We have done search of the building and we can confirm that the hostages almost all of them have been evacuated. Even from the data we had previously from relatives and families, that number has come down substantively. I want to confirm that so far are 62 deaths have been confirmed. I know from other sources other than government we had some different figures but we confirm that that is the correct position," said Lenku during a news conference.
Lenku also said two of the gunmen had been killed on Monday and that the militants were men, some of whom had dressed as women.
A spokesman for al Shabaab, which has demanded Kenya pull its troops out of neighbouringSomalia, warned they would kill hostages if Kenyan security forces, who are being assisted by Western and Israeli experts, tried to storm their positions: