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KENYAN TROOPS AND rescue workers have been scoured the wreckage of the Wesgate Mall in Nairobi for bodies and booby-trapped explosives after a four-day siege by Islamist gunmen that left 67 dead and dozens more missing.
Rescuers wore face masks and some soldiers wrapped scarves around their mouths to cover what they said was an overpowering stench inside the Westgate centre, once one of the capital’s most upmarket malls. A large part of the centre has collapsed after heavy explosions and a fierce fire.
President Uhuru Kenyatta announced an end to the 80-hour bloodbath last night, confirming the “immense” loss of 61 civilians and six members of the security forces. Police said the death toll was provisional, with the Kenyan Red Cross listing 63 people as still missing.
Across Kenya, flags flew at half mast at the start of three days of official mourning.
A well-wisher signs the condolences book for Ghanaian poet and former ambassador Kofi Awoonor at the poet’s residence in Accra, [Ghana Christian Thompson/AP/Press Association Images]
“Leading forensic experts” from other countries including America, Britain and Israel are supporting Kenyan teams, civil service chief Francis Kimemia said.
An AFP reporter outside the bullet-riddled Westgate mall also saw teams of sniffer dogs, which will check for explosives and victims buried under the rubble of a collapsed part of the building.
“They are checking for any potential explosive devices left behind,” a security source said, adding that specialist remote-controlled de-mining robots were on hand.
In one of the worst attacks in Kenya’s history, the militants marched into the four-storey, part Israeli-owned mall at midday on Saturday, spraying shoppers with automatic weapons fire and tossing grenades.
Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels said the group carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenya’s two-year battle against the extremists’ bases in the country.
Paramedics take cover during an assault on the complex by security forces on Monday [Sayyid Azim/AP/Press Association Images]
Close to 200 were wounded in the four-day siege, which saw running battles between militants and security forces in the complex.
As well as scores of Kenyans — from ordinary workers to the president’s nephew — many of the dead were foreigners, including six Britons, two Canadians, a Chinese woman, a Dutch woman, two French women, two Indians, a South African and a South Korean.
Five attackers were also killed and 11 suspects detained, Kenyatta said, vowing “full accountability for the mindless destruction, deaths, pain, loss and suffering we have all undergone.”
Kenyatta is due to hold a special cabinet meeting with his national security council later today to “take stock of lessons learnt and formulate the way forward,” Kimemia added.
Families of those still missing are anxiously waiting for news of their relatives, with the Red Cross and expert counsellors and psychologists setting up a centre in Nairobi’s central park to offer support.
Ramesh Vaya, centre, is comforted by family members after lighting the funeral pyre for his wife Malti, who was shot dead in the attack [Kate Holt/AP/Press Association Images]
There has been growing media speculation at the possible role in the attack of Co Down-born extremist Samantha Lewthwaite, daughter of a British soldier and widow of 7/7 suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay.
Kenyan newspapers have called for the Government to provide people with as much information about those killed as soon as possible.
“The government should just tell us the truth,” The Star newspaper wrote. “They should not try to sanitise… a terrible situation. The public will not blame them.”
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I hope Pat Kenny wins this one.
Yet another nursing home where people are kept in a permanent semi-comatose state for the last of their days while BlahdeeBlah capital gobbles up their income and assets and sometimes their children’s income as well in order to fund some New Yorker’s superyacht lifestyle.
@Quiet Goer:
If you believe nursing homes shouldn’t exist how do you suggest people should be looked after when they can no longer care for themselves?
@Quiet Goer: don’t know what Nursing Home you visited but your description is far removed from the experience we had. The Nursing home gave my mother a new lease of life and gave us a few extra good years with her.
@Quiet Goer: it’s a RETIREMENT COMMUNITY!!!
@Trish O Dea: Ah it’s a big thing. Have a look: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/12/08/368524824/old-and-overmedicated-the-real-drug-problem-in-nursing-homes?t=1621276372090
Statesian article but it still applies. After all the nursing home abuse scandals do you think they’re too honest to dish out a few tranquilisers?
@Quiet Goer: As I said, not my experience.
@Quiet Goer:
You’re not wrong. My daughter used to work in a nursing home and there were a couple of gentlemen with dementia resident there. One was particularly outspoken and when HIQA were due to inspect the premises, the two men were given ‘special’ medication to ensure that there would be no embarrassing outbursts. All a money racket but sometimes people have no choice.
@Quiet Goer: no, it’s called the “fair deal scheme” it’s run by the Irish government to siphon every last penny from people who worked all their lives, so our TD’s can retire early on big fat pensions.
@Bala mc blaha: I couldnt be ar$ed looking up the figures, but the Fair Deal contribution is capped,it doesnt “eat up” anyones entire equity built up in the “family home”. Even if it did, it would not impact the elderly person being cared for, just the greedy family eagerly waiting for their unearned inheritance. It never ceases to amaze me how the so-called socialist parties and half-parties defend inheritance rights which fqvour the well-off, if not exactly wealthy, while wanting to screw every penny in tax on hard earned wages.
@Doug: their family whom they provided for when they were children. Who else?
Might get slated for this, but I’ve really come around to PK over the last few years. Yes, he’s a bit wooden. But he’s highly intelligent and a good interviewer. I’ve found his newstalk show to be preferred listening in the late mornings. That is all.
@Bill Spill: no I agreee with ya. Newstalk suits him more and he can be a bit more open. Accidently turned on to Ray D’Arcy for few minutes the other day. Mother superior how in gods name does he have a job.
@Bill Spill: no.
@M. Murphy: Same with Ryan Tubridy.
Such a thoroughly annoying chap.
Must be something to do with the institutionalised culture of RTE.
They all think they are the bees knees and everyone adores them, where in fact the opposite is true.
Tommy Tiernan being the possibly the only exception – but he’s only a part timer there really.
@M. Murphy: money for nothing…his show is atrocious..
Nimby.. Not in my badgers yard.
Good man Pat I’m with you on this one!
No laughing matter to have the peace and tranquility of your home , constantly threatened by unscrupulous and uncaring developers. Pat and his family including the badgers are entitled to undisturbed enjoyment of their home and its environs . Only those who have experience of the negative effects of developments on their doorstep , can truly appreciate the negative impact and annoyance to the enjoyment of their property.
@Pat Maher: The construction of your home might once have been an annoyance to somebody
Pat seems to have been kicking off over issues with his gaff for the last decade.
@Fred spins kdb: he’s been kicking off for Decades , he’s alway in dispute with his neighbours …..
@Hugh McCann: there’s a classic interview with risteard Cooper of apres match from the late late around 2007 I think on YouTube. Starts on about his land disputes calling Pat ‘The Bull Kenny’. Pat looks like he want to lump the head off him. Tis funny.
I completely agree with Pat.its time that Developers are held accountable and not be allowed to walk all over people.All the neighbour’s have lived there a long time and are entitled to continue to enjoy the area and its wildlife undisturbed. Those badgers need to be left alone
Not in My Back Yard Attitude I guess
Whatever happens look after the Badgers they are a vital wildlife species.
Save the badgers Pat!
Squatters rights for badgers eh?
There is not a year goes by without Pat & Kathy fighting with some neighbor or developer over planning be it a hedge or a nursing home
Good luck to all
The idea that some of you are putting more value on the under ground burrow of a badger than on a place where we can house the elderly is astonishing. Pat Kenny will never be short a few quid and will probably never need to go into residential care. That’s not the case for the rest of us. With our aging population, we’re gonna need more of these homes. The elderly deserve dignity and support. We can relocate the badgers. And more to the point….. Pk didn’t give a b011ix about those badgers until somebody wanted to build in his back yard.
@Colm Walsh:
Interesting point!
Ireland’s Badgers may soon need to be chipped and a central register maintained, like for our canine friends, to ensure they don’t start organising nationally towards commercially securing further valuable land for their unique lifestyle and housing.
Exquisite tastes in housing with sea views is not just the preserve of us humans, seemingly!
Bulloch Harbour?
It’s a black and white issue.
Don’t like pat Kenny but love badgers. Jayus I’am conflicted in this moment..
Badgers are a protected species as far as I know. They are rarely seen as farmers blame them for carrying the TB in cattle. These urban badgers should be protected. Take personalities and projects out of the equation. It is not about them. I am sure there are other sites suitable for a nursing home. We do our utmost to release trapped whales etc. We should be able to compromise here. An artificial sett. Who ever heard of that succeeding. The smells of home are gone. I’m for the badgers.
Badgers aren’t even real! Come of it
@Piggy: Ive lived in Ireland all of my 59 years and I’ve never seen a ‘badger’, a ‘kingfisher’ or a ‘WhiteWalker’. Myths.
@Piggy: Ive lived in Ireland all of my 59 years and I’ve never seen a ‘badger’, a ‘kingfisher’ or a ‘WhiteWalker’. Myths.
@Paul Whitehead: Don’t get out much, then…
@Paul Whitehead: if you want to have a look, kingfishers along the Dodder, I’ve spotted them at Ballsbridge and Churchtown/Milltown, still rare to see them but they are there. No Badgers though that I could see.
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