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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

KENYA ATTACK: ''KILLERS SAT WITH FIZZY DRINKS

A butcher who survived the terrorist attack on Nairobi's Westgate mall by hiding behind his counter has described how gunmen sat sipping fizzy drinks before continuing their deadly rampage.

Fred Bosire's tale of survival came as the Foreign Office revised down the number of British nationals who died in the Kenyan capital from six to five.

It also emerged that Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for British woman Samantha Lewthwaite following the attacks.

As a new picture was released showing two of the attackers walking through the shopping centre, Mr Bosire described catching a glimpse of five of the terrorists as they took a break from their murderous campaign.

The 35-year-old, who works in the Nakumatt supermarket, said: "I heard them open what I knew to be the soda fridge when I heard that spurt of gas that's released when you pry open a soda can or bottle.
Smoke rises from the Westgate shopping centre after explosions at the mall in Nairobi
Two further explosions have been heard at the shopping centre in Nairobi

"I could see their feet dangling from the deep freezers when they sat down for what I took to be a break from the killing.

"There were five pairs of feet. Their hems and shoes were covered in blood."

Mr Bosire said the attackers were soon stalking the supermarket once more, shouting to survivors: "If you're still alive, we'll let you go."

"I heard some ladies call out," he said.

"I wish they hadn't. I wish they'd held on, because I heard them get shot in cold blood."
Soldiers patrol the area around Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi
Kenyan troops continue to patrol the area around the shopping mall

Mr Bosire said that during the early stage of the siege, shoppers were "still walking around, pushing their shopping carts slowly, trying to figure out what was going on".

"I didn't think we were the targets but then I heard the shooters speak," he said.

"It was hard to make out what they were saying at first because they spoke in a mix of English, Kiswahili and what I think was Arabic. But I knew we were in trouble."

Mr Bosire heard the gunmen shouting: "You have invaded our country, you have raped our women and killed our elderly. It is time we got some retribution."

He remembered hearing the "squishy sound of meat" and how he thought the bullets had struck the meat on his counter.

It was only later he realised he had been shot through his leg.
Kenya siege rescue
Miraculous tales of survival have emerged since the attack

He also recalled an emotional phone call with his wife as he waited for his ordeal to end, during which he asked her to not to tell their son about his death until after the youngster's primary school exams in October.

"I told her not to call me again because I was dying," he said.

Mr Bosire spent hours lying on the supermarket floor, drifting in and out of consciousness as the terrorists moved around the building, killing 67 people.

Eventually, he spotted army boots and heard a soldier saying he had "never seen so many bodies".

"He shook my leg to see if I was still alive," he said.
Troops inside Westgate mall
Troops helped rescue hostages and those trapped inside the mall

"I tried to call out but all that came out was a guttural sound. But it was enough."

Other survivors caught up in the atrocity continue to describe the terror they endured as they waited to be freed.

Radio presenter Sneha Kothari Mashru described how she smeared herself with a victim's blood to trick the attackers into thinking she was dead.

Another survivor, Rafia Khan, said she taught the Muslim practice of the shahada to nine others as they hid together in a ceiling in a desperate attempt to save their lives.

"If (the gunmen) ever got to us, we were going to say, 'No, no, we know the shahada'," she said.

Al Shabaab, the Somali militant group which claimed responsibility for the attack, recently confirmed witness accounts that those able to prove they were Muslim were allowed to leave the mall.