Kenya president declares hotel siege over; all militants eliminated


FE Team | Published: January 16, 2019 12:35:13 | Updated: January 18, 2019 16:19:03


A woman is evacuated at the scene where explosions and gunshots were heard at the Dusit hotel compound, in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday — Reuters photo

Kenya’s president said early on Wednesday that security forces had killed all four militants who stormed an upscale hotel complex in Nairobi the previous day, in an attack that killed at least 14 people.

Uhuru Kenyatta said 14 civilians were confirmed dead and over 700 others had been safely evacuated, reports Reuters.

The attack on the dusitD2 hotel began shortly after 3:00pm on Tuesday with an explosion in the parking lot and then a suicide bomb blast in the foyer, police said.

Somali militant Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least two groups of people had still been trapped inside as dawn broke, and gunfire continued to ring out around the complex in Riverside Drive.

An earlier estimate put the death toll at 15

Eleven Kenyans, an American, and a Briton were among the casualties, morgue staff said. Two victims had not been identified.

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