KENYA: Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga says gunmen are still in control of parts of a popular shopping mall after an attack that killed at least 59 and wounded many more

Record ID: 353939

  • Title: KENYA: Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga says gunmen are still in control of parts of a popular shopping mall after an attack that killed at least 59 and wounded many more
  • Date: 22nd September 2013
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (SEPTEMBER 22, 2013) (REUTERS) STREET LEADING TO THE WESTGATE MALL JOURNALISTS SURROUNDING KENYA'S OPPOSITION LEADER AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER RAILA ODINGA (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENYA'S OPPOSITION LEADER AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER, RAILA ODINGA, SAYING: "We have been told the numbers cannot be ascertained but there are quite a number of people who are sti
  • Embargoed: 7th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA5KHH6D2CWOXN6S0RQMZG48J49
  • Story Text: Islamist militants were holed up with hostages on Sunday (September 22) at a shopping mall in Nairobi, where at least 59 people have been killed in an attack by Islamists.
    Kenya's opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the gunmen were still holding hostages and controlling parts of the mall.

    "We have been told the numbers cannot be ascertained but there are quite a number of people who are still held there hostage, particularly on the first floor and in the basement area where I understand that the terrorists are still in charge," Odinga said.
    Kenya Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters the death toll had risen to 59 and 175 people had been taken to hospital. More than 1,000 people were evacuated in the stand-off.
    Odinga said he hoped 'normalcy' to return.

    "As we are here today because we know that our forces are equal to the task and that normalcy will return back to our country," Odinga said.
    The assault was the biggest single attack in Kenya since al Qaeda's East Africa cell bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people. In 2002, the same militant cell attacked an Israeli-owned hotel on the coast and tried to shoot down an Israeli jet in a coordinated strike.
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