Some of the victims of the Nairobi mall massacre reportedly suffered terrible tortures at the hands of the terrorists who carried out the slaughter.
Among the reports are claims of hostage being dismembered and castrated, having their eyes gouged out, fingers cut off with pliers, and being left hanging from hooks.
"They removed balls, eyes, ears, nose. They get your hand and sharpen it like a pencil then they tell you to write your name with the blood. They drive knives inside a child's body," Kenyan newspaper The Star quoted a doctor working at the mall as saying.
"Actually if you look at all the bodies, unless those ones that were escaping, fingers are cut by pliers, the noses are ripped by pliers."
While the information could not be independently verified, The Star editor William Pike told Britain's Independent that reporters had also heard similar accounts from other sources.
The horrifying claims about the Somalian al-Shabaab terrorists came amid mounting public anger at the lack of information from authorities about the massacre.
It was unclear how many people died after terrorists armed with machine guns and grenades started the killing in the mall around lunchtime on Saturday.
Some reports put the number of dead, excluding terrorists, at 67, with the Red Cross saying a further 71 people were listed as still missing.
Unverified accounts in Nairobi suggested the military had been forced to blow up part of the mall both to bring the massacre to an end and to end the appalling suffering of hostages.
The Daily Mail reported accounts of children being found dead in food court fridges with knives still in their bodies.
According to some accounts, most of the defeated terrorists were discovered burnt to ashes, after being set alight by the last of their number still alive to try to protect their identities.
During the assault by government troops on Monday to retake the mall, hostages reportedly had their throats slashed from ear to ear and were thrown screaming from third-floor balconies.
Between 10 and 15 terrorists were thought to have carried out the killings, with police saying five of the extremists had been killed and at least 10 taken into custody.
It could be up to a week before the mall can be thoroughly searched because of fears of setting off explosives.
SHOCKING IMAGES
Devastating images of the Kenyan mall carnage and tales of the terror shoppers encountered therein are emerging as authorities work hard to bring to justice those responsible for planning the attack that killed at least 67 people.
The Kenyan Presidential Press Service distributed photos showing blasted-out cars dangling from the wreckage of a collapsed carpark.
In one photo two baby strollers are seen at a cafe table, perhaps a metre from a gaping pit filled with charred vehicles.
But more terrifying than any images of a demolished car park are the stories coming from survivors.
Tales of how one Muslim women huddled in a crawl space with seven strangers tried to teach them a Muslim chant, so they might be spared.
How a woman smeared her body with blood from the corpse of a teenage boy so she'd appear to be already among the dead.
How the gunmen fired indiscriminately into the crowd, and corpses piled upon corpses.
These are their stories.
___
Saturdays are crowded at the Westgate Mall, Nairobi's most elite retail destination and a crossroads of the global economy. Rich foreign businessmen go there, as do wealthy Kenyans. There are shopping diplomats, and aid workers watching movies. They stroll the Nakumatt grocery store and have sandwiches at Java House. They buy sunglasses, silk shirts and phones.
Much of Kenya lives on less than a couple of dollars a day, but these poor also come to Westgate. They work inside, carrying boxes at the supermarket, sweeping the marble floors. Or they just come to watch.
"Poor. Rich. High class. All of them are there," says Rafia Khan, whose husband is a wealthy businessman.
On this Saturday, though, they would watch children weep and watch them die. They would leave injured friends behind as they fled the attackers. They would be shot, and hit by shrapnel from grenades. At least 67 would die in what became a four-day siege by extremists from al-Shabab, the Somalia-based, Muslim militant group.
__
The Westgate Mall entrance, about 12:36 p.m.:
Kenyan authorities believe there are as few as six gunmen, although the numbers remain unclear. The first team, wearing bulletproof vests, storms Westgate's front entrance, throwing grenades and firing assault rifles as they run. They are clearly well-trained.
Few people inside the mall think of terrorism when they hear the first explosion, and many think it's an electrical box giving way under Nairobi's unreliable power grid. But as one blast gives way to another and the clatter of machine-gun fire is heard, thousands of people know they need to move. But where?
Outside at the entrance, Ben Mulwa, a community organiser driving to the mall for lunch, jumps from his car and takes shelter in a shallow flowerbed. He also thinks it's a bank robbery. An unarmed mall security guard takes cover next to him.
Then he sees four attackers in the driveway, racing in his direction. All carry rifles.
"I realised this is bigger trouble than I actually thought," he says.
Mulwa hears a bang, and the guard next to him is shot through the head. He never moves again.
"That's when I saw the second gunmen actually pointing his rifle at me," he says later. Three shots ring out. In his mind, he sees his 1-year-old daughter. "I asked God: Why would you want my daughter to go through this?"
___
Al-Shabab once controlled wide swaths of Somalia, bringing with it a harsh version of Islam that required punishments such as stoning adulterers to death. The group has been threatening revenge on Kenya since 2011, when Kenyan soldiers crossed into Somalia and helped hobble the al Qaeda-linked militants.
The group said in an emailed statement after the attack that "any part of the Kenyan territory is a legitimate target. ... Kenya should be held responsible for the loss of life."
Authorities believe the group had planned long in advance, scouting the mall carefully.
"They likely had cased the location for some time and knew very well the best place and time to attack," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The gunmen, for the most part, are dressed casually. Many are in khakis and long-sleeved shirts. Some have checked scarves around their necks or flung over their heads. Only some are wearing bulletproof vests.
Most carry AK-47 or G3 assault rifles, weapons widely used in the region and easily available on the black market.
It was unclear how many people died after terrorists armed with machine guns and grenades started the killing in the mall around lunchtime on Saturday.
Some reports put the number of dead, excluding terrorists, at 67, with the Red Cross saying a further 71 people were listed as still missing.
Unverified accounts in Nairobi suggested the military had been forced to blow up part of the mall both to bring the massacre to an end and to end the appalling suffering of hostages.
The Daily Mail reported accounts of children being found dead in food court fridges with knives still in their bodies.
According to some accounts, most of the defeated terrorists were discovered burnt to ashes, after being set alight by the last of their number still alive to try to protect their identities.
During the assault by government troops on Monday to retake the mall, hostages reportedly had their throats slashed from ear to ear and were thrown screaming from third-floor balconies.
Between 10 and 15 terrorists were thought to have carried out the killings, with police saying five of the extremists had been killed and at least 10 taken into custody.
It could be up to a week before the mall can be thoroughly searched because of fears of setting off explosives.
SHOCKING IMAGES
Devastating images of the Kenyan mall carnage and tales of the terror shoppers encountered therein are emerging as authorities work hard to bring to justice those responsible for planning the attack that killed at least 67 people.
The Kenyan Presidential Press Service distributed photos showing blasted-out cars dangling from the wreckage of a collapsed carpark.
In one photo two baby strollers are seen at a cafe table, perhaps a metre from a gaping pit filled with charred vehicles.
But more terrifying than any images of a demolished car park are the stories coming from survivors.
Tales of how one Muslim women huddled in a crawl space with seven strangers tried to teach them a Muslim chant, so they might be spared.
How a woman smeared her body with blood from the corpse of a teenage boy so she'd appear to be already among the dead.
How the gunmen fired indiscriminately into the crowd, and corpses piled upon corpses.
These are their stories.
___
Saturdays are crowded at the Westgate Mall, Nairobi's most elite retail destination and a crossroads of the global economy. Rich foreign businessmen go there, as do wealthy Kenyans. There are shopping diplomats, and aid workers watching movies. They stroll the Nakumatt grocery store and have sandwiches at Java House. They buy sunglasses, silk shirts and phones.
Much of Kenya lives on less than a couple of dollars a day, but these poor also come to Westgate. They work inside, carrying boxes at the supermarket, sweeping the marble floors. Or they just come to watch.
"Poor. Rich. High class. All of them are there," says Rafia Khan, whose husband is a wealthy businessman.
On this Saturday, though, they would watch children weep and watch them die. They would leave injured friends behind as they fled the attackers. They would be shot, and hit by shrapnel from grenades. At least 67 would die in what became a four-day siege by extremists from al-Shabab, the Somalia-based, Muslim militant group.
__
The Westgate Mall entrance, about 12:36 p.m.:
Kenyan authorities believe there are as few as six gunmen, although the numbers remain unclear. The first team, wearing bulletproof vests, storms Westgate's front entrance, throwing grenades and firing assault rifles as they run. They are clearly well-trained.
Few people inside the mall think of terrorism when they hear the first explosion, and many think it's an electrical box giving way under Nairobi's unreliable power grid. But as one blast gives way to another and the clatter of machine-gun fire is heard, thousands of people know they need to move. But where?
Outside at the entrance, Ben Mulwa, a community organiser driving to the mall for lunch, jumps from his car and takes shelter in a shallow flowerbed. He also thinks it's a bank robbery. An unarmed mall security guard takes cover next to him.
Then he sees four attackers in the driveway, racing in his direction. All carry rifles.
"I realised this is bigger trouble than I actually thought," he says.
Mulwa hears a bang, and the guard next to him is shot through the head. He never moves again.
"That's when I saw the second gunmen actually pointing his rifle at me," he says later. Three shots ring out. In his mind, he sees his 1-year-old daughter. "I asked God: Why would you want my daughter to go through this?"
___
Al-Shabab once controlled wide swaths of Somalia, bringing with it a harsh version of Islam that required punishments such as stoning adulterers to death. The group has been threatening revenge on Kenya since 2011, when Kenyan soldiers crossed into Somalia and helped hobble the al Qaeda-linked militants.
The group said in an emailed statement after the attack that "any part of the Kenyan territory is a legitimate target. ... Kenya should be held responsible for the loss of life."
Authorities believe the group had planned long in advance, scouting the mall carefully.
"They likely had cased the location for some time and knew very well the best place and time to attack," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The gunmen, for the most part, are dressed casually. Many are in khakis and long-sleeved shirts. Some have checked scarves around their necks or flung over their heads. Only some are wearing bulletproof vests.
Most carry AK-47 or G3 assault rifles, weapons widely used in the region and easily available on the black market.
But some of the gunmen are draped with belts of large-calibre ammunition, and witnesses hear the fast, frightening, echoing blasts of heavy machine-gun fire.
As they storm through the mall, the music system keeps playing, an undertone to the explosions and screams. The music of Adele and Ne-Yo filters through the carnage.
___
Millionaires Casino, 12:57 p.m.:
Khan is huddled in a ceiling-level crawl space with nine other people. Her daughter is texting her.
"Are you okay???"
"Mum??"
"Can u message us Mum???"
___
Millionaires Casino, 1:30 p.m.:
Word has spread that the gunmen are allowing Muslims to leave — testing them by asking about their knowledge of Islam.
Khan and her cousin are the only Muslims among the small group. They decide to teach the others to recite the Shahada, the short Arabic-language creed that proclaims there is only one God and Muhammed is his prophet.
Over and over, Khan whispers the words slowly and phonetically, as if to a child: "La il-a-ha il-Al-lah wa Mu-ham-mad ru-soul Al-lah."
___
Parking area, third-level rooftop, about 1:30 p.m.:
The young mother watches the gunman shoot. Crowds of people are stumbling, screaming, falling around her.
He is calm.
She is terrified.
Sneha Kothari-Mashru, 28 and a part-time radio DJ, watches through a tangle of her long brown hair, which she has thrown across her face to appear as if she is already among the dead. She has smeared blood onto her arm and her clothes, taking it from the corpse of a teenage boy. She has kicked off her blue high heels.
The gunman doesn't scream, she recalls days later. He rarely speaks. There is no obvious anger in his expression. He seems confident, she says. "He was normal."
About 15 minutes later, Kothari-Mashru watches as the gunman speaks quietly to one family. She can't hear what is said, but the wife is dressed in the billowing robes worn by highly observant Muslim women. Slowly, the family members stand, raise their hands above their heads, and walk away.
Other witnesses described similar scenes. Elijah Kamau, who was at the mall at the time of the midday attack, said he listened as militants told one group of their plans.
"The gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave. They were safe," he said.
In the email statement, al-Shabab said their fighters "carried out a meticulous vetting process at the mall and have taken every possible precaution to separate the Muslims from the Kuffar (disbelievers) before carrying out their attack".
___
This is not the rule, however, in the attack.
Dozens of Muslims are shot, and many are killed. Most often, the gunmen fire wildly, spraying bullets into crowds and not bothering to ask about religion.
Some of the bloodiest scenes occur just a few feet from where Kothari-Mashru pretends to be dead.
A Junior Super Chef cooking competition was being held in the parking area and dozens of people — many from Kenya's community of Ismaili Muslims — were at long tables set up beneath car advertisements.
Gunmen had already fired through the crowds at the competition when Kothari-Mashru hides nearby. Afterward, the tables are still arranged in many places, complete with upholstered chairs and red tablecloths. But puddles of blood are everywhere, with corpses one on top of another.
___
Parking area, third-level rooftop, about 3 p.m.:
Word goes out that someone has found a place to hide.
Kothari-Mashru decides to run. As she leaves, though, she sees a friend she had met that day, lying down, obviously wounded.
"Can you get up?" Kothari-Mashru asks.
Her friend has been shot three times. She smiles at Kothari-Mashru, but says she cannot move.
As the crowds swarm toward what seems to be safety, Kothari-Mashru leaves.
"It was heartbreaking," she says later.
She swallows.
"I don't know. I don't know," she says. "She couldn't get up. She couldn't move. She just lay there."
Soon, Kothari-Mashru is among dozens of people on a back staircase heading to safety. As she races down, she runs into her husband, who had convinced two plain-clothed policemen to help find her. Later, Kothari-Mashru's friend was rescued and treated at a hospital.
___
Millionaires Casino, about 4 p.m.:
Police bang on the door of the casino. The 10 people hiding in the crawl space are escorted out by security forces. They were never forced to recite the creed.
___
Westgate Mall, about 6:30 p.m.:
Dozens, perhaps more than 100 people, remain scattered thorugh the mall as the sun sets. Bodies are carried out as security forces push the gunmen into ever smaller areas.
Mulwa, who had taken cover in the flowerbed and was shot in the leg, has already been taken to safety by police and hospitalized. After surgery, he is released from the hospital.
The siege does not end until Tuesday night, at the end of fierce gunbattles, a fire and the collapse of part of the structure.
Among the dead is Kofi Awoonor of Ghana, a beloved 78-year-old poet who was in Nairobi for a literary festival. His body was flown Wednesday to Accra, the capital of his homeland, where hundreds gathered at the airport to remember him as a man of peace.
In one verse, he was clearly conscious of his own mortality.
"When the final night falls on us
"As it fell upon our parents,
"We shall retire to our modest home
"Earth-sure, secure
"That we have done our duty
"By our people;
"We met the challenge of history
"And were not afraid."
- AP
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