NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya’s military caused the collapse of three floors of Nairobi’s Westgate Mall during the terrorist assault in which at least 67 people died, a top-ranking government official said Friday.
The account comes ahead of the release of findings from an ongoing forensic investigation into the attack and raises the possibility that the military killed hostages in their rescue attempt. An undisclosed number of people reportedly are buried in the rubble.
The official said autopsies will determine whether any bodies found there were of people killed by falling debris or slain earlier by the terrorists. The high-ranking police official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge sensitive information.
U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec said the United States is concerned about the specter of more violence fromthe Somali Islamic group, al-Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Obviously they do pose a threat, and it’s critically important, I think, that we understand al-Shabab, understand what the terrorists in that organization are up to, how they carry out attacks, and really seek to frankly end the threat that the organization poses,” Godec said. “So we are working very hard with Kenya, and other countries, to do so.”
FBI agents - along with investigators from Britain, Canada and Germany - have been dispatched to investigate the crime scene. Many of the dead were foreigners.
The senior Kenyan police official also confirmed that Kenyan troops fired rocket-propelled grenades insidethe mall, but would not say what was used to cause the collapse or whether it was intentional. The account at least partially supports information given to The Associated Press by another official Wednesday who said rocket-propelled grenades fired by soldiers created a gaping hole in the mall’s roof and caused the floors to collapse. Four huge explosions rocked the mall Monday followed by dark smoke pouring from the shopping center, the likely time that the floors collapsed.
Investigators, meanwhile, were piecing together the profile of a man who warned a pregnant woman to leave the mall just before the attack began Saturday, the official said. The woman went home to safety. After her nephew wrote about her experience in a school essay on how he spent his weekend, his teacher informed police who have interviewed thewoman about the mysterious man.
Amid the possibility that some of the attackers escaped during the mass evacuation of civilians from the mall in Nairobi’s Westlands neighborhood, Kenyan authorities have increased surveillance at border crossings and at the Nairobi airport, the senior police official said.
No bodies have been retrieved from under the rubble since Kenya’s military secured the building Tuesday, he said, adding that police also are investigating whether the attackers stored ammunition inside the mall hours or even days before the attack.
A car has been discovered that is believed to have been used by the terrorists who led the attack at the mall, the official added. Investigators are tracing the car’s ownership after taking it away from outside the mall.
Joseph Ole Lenku, Kenya’s interior minister, said that at least eight suspects are being held in the attack. Three others who had been detained were released.
Kenyan police have given little information since the attack that shocked the East African nation, saying the investigation has only justbegun into the storming of the mall Saturday by Islamic militants throwing grenades and shooting assault rifles.
It will take investigators at least seven days to comb through the rubble of the mall, where some bodies are believed to be buried, Lenku has said.
Al-Shabab said it carried out the attack because Kenya sent its troops into Somalia to fight the militants.
The Kenyan Red Cross says 61 people remain missing, and many worry their bodies may be buried in the destroyed part of the mall - though the government has insisted few victims are believed to still be inside.
The government says at least 67 people were killed in the assault by 12 to 15 al-Shabab militants, including 61 civilians and six security forces. At least five attackers also were killed.
Kenyans are still looking for answers. Lots of them.
A user-generated list of questions circulating on social media has questions like “How many terrorists wereinvolved in the attack?” “Are any terrorists loose in the city?” “Can we see the bodies of the ‘neutralized’ terrorists?” “Are we still safe?”
Boniface Mwangi, a photographer who has emerged as one of Kenya’s leading political activists, said he believes that the lack of a clear accounting of what happened at the Westgate Mall is due to the government trying to paper over shortcomings in its handling of the operation.
“They’re trying to cover up something,” he said. “If it’s true you have nothing to hide, let’s know what really happened.”
Kenya’s Citizen TV aired a segment Thursday night dubbed “Truth under the rubble” that highlighted some of the authorities’mixed messages and unanswered questions about the attack.
Information for this article was contributed by Ben Curtis, Rodney Muhumuza and Adam Schreck of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 8 on 09/28/2013