- Title: KENYA: Nairobi mall-attack survivor describes his ordeal
- Date: 28th September 2013
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (SEPTEMBER 27, 2013) (REUTERS) MALL ATTACK SURVIVOR, GENE MUGAKI AND HIS WIFE CYNTHIA MUGAKI WATCHING TELEVISION AT HOME REMOTE CONTROL BACK OF COUPLE WATCHING TELEVISION (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENE MUGAKI, MALL ATTACK SURVIVOR SAYING: "At one point I heard them engaging a lady, asking, because the lady started saying 'I'll give you money' and that's when t
- Embargoed: 13th October 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA2T4Y137GEBS4YO9RX5H9XTS4H
- Story Text: When gunmen stormed a Nairobi mall in a hail of gunfire and grenades exactly one week ago this Saturday (September 21) , Kenyan real estate agent Gene Mugaki had just bought a meal at the food court on the top floor.
What he thought at first was a robbery turned out to be an attack by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group that later turned into a four-day siege at the shopping centre that killed at least 67 civilians.
The gunfire persisted and Mugaki decided to run into the parking lot where a cooking competition was being held and hid under the draping, lying down flat between the tent and a wall.
As he lay there silent, the attackers went on a killing spree just metres away.
"At one point I heard them engaging a lady, asking, because the lady started saying 'I'll give you money' and that's when this Somali terrorist replied, and was quite angry, saying 'we are not here for money, we are mujahideen!' and they shot her," Mugaki said.
Mugaki was rescued on Saturday evening, almost seven hours after the attack began. A Canadian United Nations employee he was hiding with, called the organisation's security who found them in the storm drain but they still had to wait three more hours to gain safe exit from the mall.
It was not until he ran to safety that he saw the carnage around him as bloodied bodies lay on the ground all around.
"The terrorists I think went inside to engage the police. After a few minutes, I remember, I heard somebody shouting 'Please move this way, move this way, move this way!' That's the time now I decide to take a peek, I saw this white man in shorts, telling everyone to move towards the back, I mean, rather back to the mall, so I got up and that's when I noticed everyone around me was shot - apart from one gentleman who was next to me - either they had a bullet wound on the leg, on the chest, some on the head. So I decided to go towards the direction the white man was telling people to go," he said.
The attack on the mall ended on Tuesday when Kenyan troops detonated explosives to get through locked doors inside the mall as they searched for militants or booby traps.
Three floors collapsed after the blasts and a separate fire weakened the structure of the vaulted, marble-tiled building. Officials said the blaze arose from militants lighting mattresses as a decoy.
One week after the attack, Kenya is still reeling from the shock and the loss. Mugaki says he is taking one day at a time.
"My wife here keeps telling me to go for counselling. Of course I agree, but for me, at this point, I'm just taking everything in. And right now I am just glad to be alive. I want to spend more time with my family, with my kids, but for sure counselling, I have to go for counselling. And I know it's a process it's not something I can get over same day but with God's help I know I will overcome, Mugaki said.
Kenya's Red Cross is holding counselling sessions with victims, survivors and rescuers in makeshift centres and door to door visits around the city. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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