{UAH} Kenya mall attack: 18 Gujarati victims cremated - More to come

Kenya mall attack: 18 Gujarati victims cremated

Pranav Dave & Bharat Yagnik, TNN | Sep 26, 2013, 04.26 AM IST

AHMEDABAD: The funerals of 18 Gujaratis who were killed in the Westgate Mall terror seige in Nairobi were held till Tuesday, local community leaders said, even as retrieval of bodies from the building remained painfully slow because many lay under collapsed debris.

Harish Kanabar, president of BAPS Satsang Mandal, Kenya said these 18 Gujaratis belonged to different communities including Patels, Jains, Kutchi Jains and Khojas (followers of Aga Khan).

Director of the Westgate Mall Arvind Raghavanitold TOI: "We estimate that 25 Gujaratis have died in the terror attack".

Al-Shabaab claimed on Wednesday that Kenyan government assault team carried out "a demolition" of the building, burying 137 hostages in the rubble.

Government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said the official civilian death toll remains 61 but is likely to rise. Esipisu said floors of the mall collapsed after a fire started by the al-Shababattackers caused structural weakness.

At the mall Wednesday morning, gunshots could still be heard. Esipisu said they were from Kenyan forces going room to room in the large Westgate Mall, firing protectively before entering unknown territory.

The process of retrieving bodies from inside the mall still had not begun Wednesday morning, possibly indicating that the situation was not yet considered secure.

Another 175 people were injured, including more than 60 who remain hospitalized. The al-Shabab extremists stormed the mall on Saturday, throwing grenades and firing on civilians.

Mukesh Savla, a Gujarati businessman in Nairobi told TOI that 200 people injured in the attack have been admitted to Aga Khan Hospitaland MP Shah Hospital. "Nearly 100 of these are Indians, including Gujaratis, and many are critically injured", said Savla.

Chinubhai Shah, committee member of Visha Oswal Samaj which was running a rescue and relief center next to the mall, said that death toll is near 70 and is expected to touch 100. "A number of dead bodies buried under the debris are yet to be recovered," said Shah.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower