Kenyan minister: ‘Only militants’ under Westgate rubble
A Kenyan minister says he expects the death toll from the Nairobi attack will not rise significantly, and that only al-Shabaab terrorists will be found in the rubble of the Westgate shopping centre.
Joseph ole Lenku, Kenya’s interior minister, said the process of searching the rubble at Westgate, which was caused by the collapse of three floors towards the end of the four-day siege, had begun.
He said he did not think the death toll would rise “significantly” higher than the current level of 72.
“We are convinced that there will be insignificant, if any, bodies there except for the terrorists,” he told a press conference.
His comments conflict with statements made by al-Shabaab, the group that carried out the attack, which said that 137 hostages had died – something it blamed on Kenyan security forces.
The four-day siege ended on Tuesday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced in a televised address, though shots could still be heard at the upmarket shopping centre on Wednesday morning.
Officials said the shots were the sounds of security forces going from room-to-room, firing protectively before entering previously unsecured space.
We can confirm the detention of a British national in Nairobi. We are making contact to offer standard consular assistance. Foreign Office spokeswoman
In the president’s address, he announced that 61 civilians and six members of security forces had died in the siege, as well as five of the attacking militants. A further 11 members of the group that stormed the capital’s mall are in custody.
He also revealed that three floors in the shopping centre had collapsed in the final stages of a Kenyan forces campaign to retake it.
However, al-Shabaab said on Twitter that Kenyan forces had used chemical weapons against the militants, and had deliberately collapsed three floors in the shopping centre “burying evidence and all hostages in the rubble”.
In an act of sheer cowardice, beleaguered Kenyan forces deliberately fired projectiles containing chemical agents into building #westgate
— HSM Press Office (@HSMPR0ffice) September 25, 2013
To cover their crime, the Kenyan govt carried out a demolition to the building, burying evidence and all hostages under the rubble #westgate
— HSM Press Office (@HSMPR0ffice) September 25, 2013
The identities of the attackers are currently unknown, though President Kenyatta said forensic teams were working to establish nationalities.
It had previously been said that one of the attackers was a British woman, raising suspicions that Samantha Lewthwaite, the wife of the 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, was involved. Americans were also reported to be within the group.
Mr ole Lenku said on Wednesday that, though the government had previously stated that there was no evidence that a woman had been involved, forensic teams were now working to establish “if this is true”.
The full “forensic audit” of the Nairobi shopping mall terror attack will take at least seven days to complete, he said. International experts – including a team from Scotland Yard – are helping .
‘Vicious attack’
Approximately 175 people have been injured in the attack, with 62 remaining in hospital. Footage emerged on Wednesday of the rescue of a mother and her two children, who had been playing dead but were guided to safety.
Amongst the dead are six British nationals, but Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned that the British death toll could rise “once the building is fully secure”.
A Foreign Office spokesman has said the UK is doing everything possible to support Kenya in bringing those responsible for the “vicious attack” to justice.
The Kenyan president has announced three days of national mourning.