FBI helps Kenya ID victims, gunmen
GOVERNMENT DENIES USE OF TEAR GAS Explanation for mall’s collapse questioned
NAIROBI — Working near bodies crushed by rubble in a bullet-scarred, scorched mall, FBI agents began fingerprint, DNA and ballistic analysis Wednesday to help identify victims and al-Shabab gunmen who attacked the shopping centre, killing more than 60 people.
A gaping hole in the mall’s roof was caused by Kenyan soldiers who fired rocketpropelled grenades inside, knocking out a support column, a government official said. The official said the soldiers fired to distract a terrorist sniper so hostages could be evacuated.
The collapse came Monday, shortly after four large explosions, followed by billows of black smoke. Although a government minister said the terrorists had set mattresses on fire, causing the roof to collapse, the video showed such massive destruction that the explanation seemed unlikely to be the full story.
On its Twitter feed Wednesday, al-Shabab claimed that the Kenyan government assault team carried out “a demolition” of the building.
The current death toll is 67 — including at least 18 foreigners — and will probably climb, with uncounted bodies remaining in the wreckage of the Nairobi mall. A further 175 people were injured, including more than 60 who remain in hospital.
Among those killed when the militants entered the Westgate Mall on Saturday, firing assault rifles and throwing grenades, were six Britons and citizens from France, Canada, the Nether- lands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China.
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said forensic experts from the U.S., Israel, Britain, Germany and Canada are all taking part in trying to reconstruct the scene at the mall. He said results would take at least a week.
Al-Shabab said the Kenyan government assault team carried out “a demolition” of the building — apparently referring to the firing of rocketpropelled grenades — burying 137 hostages in the debris. However, the country’s interior minister told a news conference that an “inconsequential number” of bodies remained in the mall.
In a series of tweets from a Twitter account believed to be genuine, al-Shabab also said that “having failed to defeat the mujahideen inside the mall, the Kenyan govt disseminated chemical gases to end the siege.”
But a Kenyan government spokesman said no chemical weapons, including tear gas, had been used.
In another development, a British man was arrested in Kenya after the attack, Britain’s Foreign Office said.
British officials are ready to provide assistance to the man, the agency said Wednesday. Officials would not provide his name or details. He is believed to be in his 30s. Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper said the man was arrested Monday as he tried to board a flight from Nairobi to Turkey with a bruised face and while acting suspiciously.
Kenyan officials have said that 11 suspects have been arrested, including at least seven at the airport. They are being questioned, said the government spokesman.