Gunmen still in besieged Kenyan mall
Sounds of heavy gunfire erupted from Nairobi’s Westgate mall Tuesday, even as authorities said for the second day they had the building under their control.
Kenya’s Interior Ministry also gave reason for hope: “We’re very near the end.” The mall “is under the full control of govt forces and we are carrying out a sweep to ensure (it’s) safe for everyone,” Kenyan police tweeted Tuesday.
But four days after Al-Shabaab Militant stormed the swanky mall, several gunmen including snipers were still inside, two senior officials said.
And it’s uncertain how many hostages might still be trapped, although Kenyan officials tweeted early Tuesday that they believed all of them had been freed. “We are doing cleanup of explosives that had been set up by the terrorists,” police said.
And while the deadly siege drags on, the families of 65 people still unaccounted for don’t know whether their loved ones escaped safely, are hiding somewhere in the vast mall or might be among the dozens killed by the terrorists.
