14 DAY TRIAL // Somalia's al-Shabab Islamic group have taken control of a shopping mall in Kenya over the weekend, killing 59 people and injuring over 200 more.
The Islamic group have pulled up in several vehicles in front of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, storming the facility while heavily armed. The al-Qaeda affiliates have claimed responsibility for the Nairobi terror attack.
The Guardian revealed that they asked shoppers to recite a Muslim prayer or respond to a question on Islam.
Customers who were able to do so were freed, while others were gunned down. The terrorist organization used grenades and AK-47s inside the mall.
Police surrounded the shopping center but the shooting carried on until Sunday, ABC News wrote.
One day after the start of the attack, 10 to 15 gunmen were still inside, keeping about 30 people hostage.
The victims include women, children and members of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's family.
"I realized how serious it was when I saw three dead bodies on the steps just outside the mall front entrance," says New York Times photographer Tyler Hicks, who was at the scene and walked inside as he saw shoppers fleeing through an exit.
Hicks describes a massive law enforcement response, including the police and the army. He clearly recalls seeing dozens of dead bodies near the mall.
"Once in, it was clear that this was going to be something very bad. There were several bodies clearly visible around the mall. Two men who had, as far as I could see, been eating lunch, were killed just next to a table where they had been having their lunch in a café.
"Another man in front of an ATM machine, someone in front of the entrance to the supermarket … there seemed to be bodies really strewn all over the place," Hicks describes.