NAIROBI; KENYA: Forensic investigators sifted
through the rubble at the Westgate Mall as questions lingered about the
fate of dozens reported missing at the end of the deadly four-day siege.
Authorities
had indicated the terrorists had hostages inside the upscale shopping
complex during the standoff, but authorities, curiously, appeared to
avoid the matter or give inconclusive responses after prodding.
President
Kenyatta on Tuesday night said three floors of the building had
collapsed and “there were several bodies still trapped in the rubble
including some terrorists.”
On Wednesday, Interior Cabinet
Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku said although some bodies could still be
trapped in the rubble, the number of the dead “is not expected to
increase significantly.”
Officially, 67 people — 61 civilians and
six security agents — were killed during the attack after gunmen struck
the shopping complex on Saturday morning firing indiscriminately at
shoppers and staff.
But the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) reported a death toll of 69, and added 63 were recorded as missing.
The Government has blamed the inconsistency on a possible “double
count” by aid workers. However, the last update given by KRCS yesterday
afternoon points out that “the number of persons reported to KRCS as
missing has risen to 71.”
Other than being involved in forensics,
according to the Times of Israel, the role of Israelis in the Westgate
Mall situation has not been clear.
On Monday, Israeli defence
officials confirmed a team was dispatched to Nairobi within hours of the
hostage crisis, but said that armed fighting units were not part of the
delegation.
On Wednesday morning, soldiers from Langata’s Maroon
Commandos were among the last combat units to leave the mall after the
final assault early Tuesday.
Other teams that took part in the
operation were the Kenya Defence Forces’ 75 Artillery, 20 Para, 30
Special Forces and 40 Rangers Strike Force unit.
“We left behind a
team of Israeli experts who came with small dogs with big ears to start
carrying out forensic (investigation),” said a soldier involved in the
final operation.
The terrorists are said to have stuffed most of
the bodies in specific rooms that were close to the source of the fire
and where part of the building caved in.
“It might take several days to retrieve some of the bodies that might have been trapped in the debris,” said another soldier.
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