'If they found me, I'm white... so I'm dead': Survivors reveal how gunman executed non-Muslims - after asking them to name Prophet Mohammed's mother

Survivors said they saw fellow shoppers mercilessly executed after being singled out as non-Muslim

Shoppers said people were lined up and gunned down for failing to recite passages from the Koran



At least 68 people killed in attack - including three Britons - at Westgate shopping centre



Somalian terrorist group al-Shabaab - which has links to Al Qaeda - claims responsibility for attack on Saturday




Some barricaded themselves in storerooms, while others hid in boxes or even played dead.

All were fleeing the bloody massacre unfolding around them as they saw terrified fellow shoppers mercilessly executed after being singled out as non-Muslim.

Men, women and children were lined up and then gunned down with AK-47s after failing to name the Prophet Mohammed’s mother or recite passages from the Koran – sure-fire proof they were ‘kafirs’, or non-believers.

Others fled and sought refuge in shops, bank vaults and store rooms as grenades exploded and bullets fired around them.



The fortunate ones managed to emerge blood-splattered and terrified, with the wounded pushed out in shopping trolleys.

Hannah Chisholm, 21, from Haslemere, Surrey, described the terror and confusion at the Westgate Mall, which she was visiting while on holiday.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT -- Scroll down for videos

Survivors said men, women and children were lined up and then gunned down with AK-47s after failing to name the Prophet Mohammed¿s mother Shock: A soldier directs people up stairs inside the Westgate shopping mall. Some fled and sought refuge in shops, bank vaults and store rooms as grenades exploded and bullets fired around them

Backup: Soldiers from the Kenya Defence Force arrived to strengthen the large numbers of troops at the siege at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya

Rescue mission: An image from AFP TV shows military forces taking position inside the shopping mall She said: ‘We kept running to different places but the shots were getting louder so we barricaded ourselves along with about 60 others into a large storeroom. ‘There were children hiding with us as well as someone who had been shot. At that point we thought the gunmen were thieves so we assumed they wouldn’t try to reach the storeroom.’ Greg Aldous, from New Zealand, told how he hid in a box and watched a man being gunned down 30ft away from him. He said the terrorists ‘were coming in through the front, they were coming in through the back and we were just sitting ducks’. He added: ‘These are Islamic fundamentalist nutcases. They just shot and killed anybody. They are horrible.’ He eventually escaped under the cover of darkness to a lorry-loading depot where people were panicking and screaming.

‘My instinct was to hide and I jumped into a large box containing supermarket cartons and hid there,’ he said. ‘I only survived the massacre because I kept out of sight. ‘If they had found me… I’m white, so I’m dead. They’re not even going to think twice. They hate your skin colour.’ Radio presenter Saadia Ahmed was one of the 1,000 who managed to flee. She said: ‘I witnessed a few people get up and say something in Arabic and the gunmen let them go. ‘A colleague of mine said he was Muslim and recited something in Arabic and they let him go as well.’

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Next Shouts, screams... and then a sprint for their lives: Raw... 'If they found me, I'm white... so I'm dead': Survivors... Share this article Share But she added: ‘I saw a lot of children and elderly people being shot dead. I don’t understand why you would shoot a five-year-old child. ‘They were firing at random at anyone who tried to escape.’ Tense: Kenyan paramilitary officers walk towards a small shopping arcade adjacent to the Westgate shopping mall where the fate of the hostages remained unclear on Monday morning

Lock-down: Kenya security personnel walk to their positions outside the shopping mall as the siege continued yesterday One mother, Kamal Kaur, who had been shopping with her family, posted a string of shocking tweets about her ordeal when she got home. ‘I just washed my hair and wailed like a child. Blood in my hair. Not mine. That little boy who died right next to me… My son almost had his head blown off. Missed by an inch. Hit wall. Bounced and killed the little boy next to him.’ Kenyan IT engineer Charles Karani, 41, said: ‘I hid under a car with my daughters, and I saw the men line up maybe 40 people and ask them who was Muslim, and if they were, to prove it by saying the name of the Prophet’s mother. Those who got it wrong were shot. There was blood everywhere. ‘Two ladies under the car with me had gunshot wounds on their legs. Other people for sure are dead. I saw four people lying, not moving. ‘A grenade was thrown and it rolled near us. My daughter said, “Papa, there’s a grenade” – but thank God it didn’t go off and I kicked it away.’ Video footage of the attack emerged last night showing terrified shoppers running for cover as gunfire is heard. One woman, writing on Twitter under the name Shirley Ghetto, told how she was hiding under some mattresses in the mall. She wrote: ‘Is it safe to come out from hiding? It’s quiet. Please keep me updated.’ Fred Ngoga Gateretse, an official with the African Union, crouched on the floor and watched gunmen firing at shoppers and Kenyan police. ‘Believe me, these guys were good shooters,’ he said. ‘You could tell they were trained.’ Three Britons were yesterday confirmed dead.

Kenyan troops were seen carrying in at least two rocket-propelled grenades as they stormed the mall yesterday after military helicopters hovered over the mall. Prime Minister David Cameron warned Britain to brace for 'more bad news' after the 'absolutely sickening and despicable attack of appalling brutality'. Danger: A Kenyan police officer takes cover to prepare for the incoming fire at the Oshwal Centre adjacent to the Westgate shopping mall Distressing: A woman holds a baby sitting with other injured people who are crying for help after gunmen went on a shooting spree in the Westgate shopping centre Response: Soldiers take positions outside the shopping centre in Nairobi. At least 68 people have been killed after masked gunmen stormed the mall and held shoppers

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta - who has lost relatives in the attack - reiterated his government's determination to continue fighting al-Shabab.

‘We... went into Somalia to help stabilise the country and most importantly to fight terror that had been unleashed on Kenya and the world,’ he said.



‘We shall not relent on the war on terror.’ He said although this violent attack had succeeded, the Kenyan security forces had ‘neutralised’ many others.

Earlier in the day, 51-year-old Mr Kenyatta - who was elected five months ago - said he his nephew and his nephew's fiancee were killed in the attack.

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said a number of people were being held hostage on the third floor and the basement area of the mall.

This includes Nike, Adidas and Bose stores. Kenyan security officials sought to reassure families of hostages inside but implied that hostages could die.

The security operation is ‘delicate’ because Kenyan forces hoped the hostages were evacuated safely, said Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku.

‘The priority is to save as many lives as possible,’ Mr Lenku said, adding that more than 1,000 people escaped the attack inside the mall yesterday.

‘We have received a lot of messages from friendly countries, but for now it remains our operation,’ Mr Lenku said.

More than 175 people were injured in the attack, he added, including many children. Kenyan forces were in control of the mall's security cameras.

This afternoon brief volleys of gunfire were heard and officials told TV reporters that they could soon be asked to move further back from the mall.

An Associated Press reporter, positioned less than 350 yards from Westgate, tweeted that a huge blast went off inside it.

Siege: People look at the Westgate shopping mall in the distance where hostages were held for three days

Horror: Shoppers hurry down an escalator with their hands in the air as they make their way out of the shopping centre to safety Army: Soldiers were drafted in to help police tackle the gunmen - terrorists from the Somali al-Shabaab organisation, which has links to al-Qaeda Shootout: Soldiers and armed police fire at the suspected terrorists as they try to wrest back control of the shopping centre In a national televised address he said that his nephew and his nephew's fiancée, whom he 'knew and loved', were both killed by the radicals. Somali-based militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the outrage at the mall in the affluent Westlands district of the capital.

'The priority is to save as many lives as possible' Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku A Foreign Office spokesman said that three British nationals are confirmed dead and that the next of kin of those nationals have been informed. The Government’s crisis committee (COBR), chaired by Foreign Secretary William Hague, met yesterday to discuss the incident. The Labour Party conference in Brighton paused for a minute's silence as news of the deaths filtered through, with Ed Miliband among those reflecting.

He said: 'This is an appalling attack which has left three British citizens and many others dead. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the others caught up in this dreadful atrocity.

'Those who carried out this attack will be condemned across the globe. The cold-blooded killing of innocent women, children and men is as despicable as it is shocking.' Desperation: A crowd of people hold their arms out to catch a Kenyan woman as she jumps out from the air vent where she had been hiding from the gunmen Emergency: A Red Cross assistant helps a child outside who was among those caught in the shooting Killings: The fate of the hostages remained unclear this morning despite earlier statements from police saying most of those held had been rescued Desperation: An injured woman, whose face and clothes are drenched in blood, lies on the ground outside the shopping mall screaming for help

Escape: Women carrying children run for safety after al Shabaab terrorists stormed Westgate shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya armed with guns and grenades

Members of the Indian community pay their respects at the cremation ceremony of Nehal Vekaria, a 16-year-old female student who was killed during the shooting spree

Helping the injured: Bags of blood are seen on a table after Kenyans come in large numbers to donate blood for the victims of the attack

Scramble: People crawl on their stomachs to safety as security forces keep a lookout at the Nairobi mall on Saturday Witness Elijah Kamau said the gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted, as they began their attack. The gunmen threw grenades and then opened fire, sending shoppers and staff fleeing for their lives. Brit Amita Sharma yesterday spoke of her fear for family and friends after hearing they had been caught up in the Nairobi shopping centre siege. The 41-year-old, from Slough, had been visiting relatives in the Kenyan capital just two weeks ago and said she was stunned by news of the attack at the Westgate Mall. The events manager said: 'We've spoken to a family friend who hid in the mall's supermarket for three hours. 'Staff tried to protect all the customers in the shop by closing all the shutters to stop the attackers getting in. 'It must have been terrifying for them all. My friend said she could hear all the gunshots and shouting going on outside. 'Thankfully she was unharmed but she is still very shaken by what has happened.'

Eyewitness Fred Ngoga Gateretse, an official with the African Union, told The New York Times : 'Believe me, these guys were good shooters. You could tell they were trained.' Charles Karani, 41, an IT engineer, said: ‘I hid under a car with my daughters, and I saw the men line up maybe 40 people and ask them who was Muslim, and if they were to prove it by saying the name of the Prophet’s mother. Those who got it wrong were shot. ‘There was blood everywhere. Two ladies under the car with me had gunshot wounds on their legs. ‘Another Indian gentlemen was hit in the face by a bullet but he seemed not to be gravely hurt. Other people for sure are dead. I saw four people lying, not moving.

Fleeing: A child runs to safety across the shopping mall Wounded: A Kenyan policeman sits clutching his stomach alongside his rifle while a colleague exchanges fire with the terrorists

Scared: Clearly distressed, this family join hands as they make their way out of the building. Bullet wounds can be seen in the glass behind them

Cat and mouse: A security officer points out the location of where some of the terrorists may be hiding to his colleagues, all three of whom have their pistols at the ready

Protection: A mother and her children lie on the floor as they attempt to hide while the gunmen armed with automatic weapons go on the rampage

Tweets purporting to be from Al-Shabaab's official Twitter handle have appeared that describe the attack and state some of the group's grievances.

The group opposes Kenya's participation in a peacekeeping mission in Somalia.



One post that there will be ‘no negotiations whatsoever’. It said it had previously warned the Kenyan government that, if they did not remove military forces from Somalia, there would be ‘severe consequences’. Another continued this theme: ' We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest.'

It also tweeted: ‘For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it's time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land,’



Another tweet said: 'Kenyans will not appreciate the gravity of the situation without seeing, feeling and experiencing death in all its ghoulish detail.'

This morning a message was posted that read: 'A 14-hour standoff relayed in 1400 rounds of bullets and 140 characters of vengeance and still ongoing. Good morning Kenya!'



It added that they were ‘still inside the mall, fighting the Kenyan kuffar inside their own turf’ and proclaimed: 'When justice is denied, it must be enforced. Kenyans were relatively safe in their cities before they invaded us & killed Muslims.'



The organisation claimed it had killed more than 100 Kenyan ‘kuffar’, a derogatory term used to describe non-Muslims.

Updates: It has been claimed that the terrorists were tweeting updates about their attack from the scene

Safety: Shoppers and shop assistants raise their hands as they are escorted out by armed police Children: A soldier carries one of the survivors to safety as armed police hunt for the gunmen Hunt: Armed police search customers taking cover inside a bathroom at the shopping centre

Gunfight: Police are still trying to escort people away from the site where fighting continues

Hostages: Police say armed men are still in the building and are holding prisoners

Deadly: Armed police search Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi for the last remaining gunmen Search: Police scour the centre with guns to try and locate the terrorists still holding hostages Shattered glass: A police officer tries to secure an area inside the Westgate Shopping Centre where gunmen went on a shooting spree in Nairobi

Special forces: The army and elite squads have been drafted in to help police flush out the gunmen Shootout: A police officer takes up position at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi

Rescue: A policeman carries a baby to safety on the barrel of his gun while a woman ducks for safety behind him

Stand-off: Soldiers are still searching in and around the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi after the supposed terrorist attack

Nairobi's mortuary superintendent, Sammy Nyongesa Jacob, said Africans, Asians and Caucasians were among the bodies brought in following the attack.

Speaking from his country residence Chevening, in Kent, William Hague said there had been a claim of responsibility from al-Shabaab but ‘that doesn't mean we know for certain who has done or is doing this.

‘I think what we do know for certain and what we can say in the United Kingdom for certain is that all of our work and the work of Kenya and other countries neighbouring Somalia to bring stability to Somalia, to defeat terrorism there, will continue.

‘It will never be deterred or prevented by actions of this kind. I know that will be the view of the Kenyan government and the people of Kenya as well.’

He said al-Shabaab had brought ‘terror and great difficulty to Somalia’ and the UK had done a lot of work to tackle the problems in Somalia.

‘It is too early to know for sure who carried out this attack. It is an attack that, as we speak, as far as we know is still continuing so we can't give any further details.’



Wounded: A security officer helps an injured woman away from the building

Injured: A security officer talks to his colleagues shortly after being helped from the scene having been wounded Critical: A victim is wheeled into the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi for emergency treatment Rescue: A woman is shipped to an ambulance in a shopping trolley by centre staff Devastating: Injured people receive assistance from bypassers at the scene of the shooting

Family mall: Customers who had planned a Saturday of shopping were forced to run following a shootout between unidentified armed men and the police

He added: ‘These are large numbers of entirely innocent people, that's why I say it is a particularly callous and cowardly and brutal attack.

‘Sadly significant numbers have been killed. So again I say that the thoughts of the UK are with the people of Kenya at this terrible moment.’

The Foreign Secretary added: ‘Our High Commission staff in Nairobi are working very hard, visiting hospitals, trying to make sure that they are aware of British nationals who might have been in the area or caught up in this.

‘We are sending a rapid deployment team to reinforce that work, which will be particularly important if the situation carries on. We have offered the Kenyan authorities any other assistance and of course we will keep in touch with them about that.’



A Downing Street spokesman said David Cameron had spoken to Mr Kenyatta and passed on his ‘sincere condolences’.

Kenya has seen a rise in terror attacks and threats in recent years, some of which are believed to be in retaliation for a military crackdown on al-Shabaab.

The attacks often involve gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades, and their targets include bars, nightclubs and restaurants in various parts of the country.

Escape: An injured man who managed to flee the attackers is treated by paramedics outside the shopping centre

There was a suspected al-Shabaab attack which left five dead and three injured at a restaurant in the eastern city of Garissa in January, and in August last year one person was killed and six more were left injured in the Eastleigh area of Nairobi on the eve of a visit by Hillary Clinton, then the United States secretary of state.

Last month 18 US embassies and consulates across the Middle East and Africa were closed after a message between al Qaida officials about plans for a major terror attack was intercepted.

The assault was the biggest single attack in Kenya since al Qaeda's East Africa cell bombed the US Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people. In 2002, the same militant cell attacked an Israeli-owned hotel on the coast and tried to shoot down an Israeli jet in a coordinated strike.



Victim: Rescuers attempt to evacuate a man injured in the shooting

The chairwoman of the Commission of the African Union, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, condemned the attack in the ‘strongest possible terms’ and said it underlines ‘the imperative for renewed and reinvigorated efforts to combat terrorism throughout the continent’.