Briton among 15 dead in Kenya hotel terror attack
ISLAMIST gunmen and a suicide bomber stormed a luxury hotel complex in Kenya yesterday, killing at least 15 – including one Briton.
The five-star DusitD2 hotel in the affluent Westlands neighbourhood of Nairobi was hit by heavy gunfire and explosions at about 3pm local time (12pm GMT). Terrorist group AlShabaab have claimed responsibility for the atrocity.
A suicide attacker blew himself up in a foyer, with at least four heavily armed men entering the lobby after throwing grenades at passing cars. Nearby vehicles booby-trapped with explosives had to be defused before army rescue teams could be sent in to the complex, which includes bars, restaurants, offices and banks.
Officials said the site was finally ‘under control’ eight hours after the attackers struck – but later confirmed many victims were still trapped inside.
Serge Medic, who ran to the scene to help, said: ‘The main door of the hotel was blown open and there was a human arm in the street.’
Local reports said at least one Briton was among the dead, based on documents found after bodies were transferred to a mortuary.
Al-Shabaab killed 67 in a Nairobi shopping centre in 2013. The group’s deadliest attack in the country came two years later, when 148 perished after fanatics stormed Garissa University in north-east Kenya.