Grenades and gunfire at Kenya shopping centre
Gunmen threw grenades and opened fire inside an upscale shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Large pockets of people trapped in the Westgate Mall, in the affluent Westlands area, came streaming out over the course of an hour. At least half a dozen were bloodied, and many clutched small children.
Shopping centre guards used trolleys to wheel out several wounded children and at least one man.
The volleys of gunfire moved outside the centre after police arrived nearly half-an-hour after the attacks began and engaged the gunmen.
Rob Vandijk, who works at the Dutch embassy, said he was eating at a restaurant in the shopping centre when attackers lobbed hand grenades inside the building. He said gunfire then burst out and people screamed as they dropped to the ground.
Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue said the gunmen had besieged the building, and officers were on the ground engaging the attackers. He said the men were trying to rob a shop within the centre.
Some of those running from the scene said the attack may have been a bank robbery gone wrong.
Cars were left abandoned outside the centre after the attack started around midday local time.
