The family of one of the two Indians killed in the Nairobi shopping mall attack has pleaded for privacy "in this difficult hour". Sridhar Natarajan lost his life while his wife Manjula is said to be in a critical condition. Their family is in touch with the authorities.
Two Indians, including an 8-year-old, were among the 39 killed in a terrorist attack at an upscale mall in Nairobi. More than 150 have been left injured and this includes four Indians.
In a televised address, President Uhuru Kenyatta said he lost "very close family members" in the attack carried out by "despicable perpetrators" of the cowardly act.
Kenyatta said that hundreds of people were safely evacuated from the mall. He said Kenyans' courage and sympathy saved lives and reassured countless people.
He said security forces were responding to the attack. He called it a delicate operation and said the top priority was to safeguard the lives of those still being held hostage.
Al-Qaeda-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Terrified shoppers huddled in back hallways and prayed they would not be found by the Islamic extremist gunmen lobbing grenades and firing assault rifles inside Nairobi's top mall yesterday. When the coast was thought to be clear, crying mothers clutching small children and blood-splattered men sprinted out of the four-story mall.
The al-Qaeda-linked gunmen asked the victims they had cornered if they were Muslim: If the answer was yes, several witnesses said, those people were free to go. The non-Muslims were not.
Somalia's Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility and said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into Somalia. The rebels threatened more attacks.
There are reports of American citizens injured in the attack but the United States State Department said it had no further details.
As night fell in Kenya's capital, hostages remained inside the mall, but officials didn't or couldn't say how many. Two contingents of army special forces troops had moved inside as the stand-off stretched into its ninth hour.
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"This is difficult time for the family and we are trying to find more information. We are in touch with the relevant authorities in the MEA and we appreciate their help. As we decide the next steps, we will appreciate if our privacy, in this difficult hour, is respected," the family reportedly said.
The Kenyan government has said that hostages are being held in several locations.
While one of the victims 40-year-old Sridhar Natarajan was working with a pharma firm, 8-year-old Paramshu Jain was the son of a manager of the local Bank of Baroda branch, spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said.
At least two Canadians, including a diplomat, were among those killed. The diplomat was Annemarie Desloges, 29, who worked for Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Department at its embassy in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narenrda Modi expressed his condolences for those who had lost their lives in the terror attack. He also said the time has come to take steps to wipe out terrorism from the world. Modi was addressing the Indian American community at the conclusion of the two-day national convention of the Overseas Friends of BJP-USA through a live video conference.
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