Sunday,  Sept. 22, 2013 • Vol. 15--No. 69 • 33 of 45

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secretary said Sunday.
• Multiple barrages of gunfire erupted Sunday morning from inside the building where there is a hostage standoff with Islamic extremists nearly 24 hours after they attacked using grenades and assault rifles.
• "The priority is to save as many lives as possible," Joseph Lenku said, reassuring the families of the hostages in the upscale Westgate mall. Kenyan forces have already rescued about
1,000 people, he said.
• Lenku said that there are 10 to 15 attackers involved, and Kenyan forces have control of the security cameras inside the mall. Combined military and police forces surrounded the building.
• Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters at the mall that he has been told officials couldn't determine the exact number of hostages inside the mall.
• ___

Kenya mall: Reporter outside, 2 friends and toddler inside make personal, professional collide

• NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The frantic phone call came from a close friend staying the weekend with my family: She was inside Nairobi's most upscale mall and could hear gunshots. Her husband and 2-year-old daughter were inside too, but she didn't know where. Where should she go?
• Over the next several hours my role as a reporter collided with my concern for close friends in mortal danger. Reporters everywhere must separate their emotions from scenes of horror, but that's a near-impossible task when your friends are facing attackers lobbing grenades and firing bullets.
• Lyndsay called my wife two minutes after the first blast. It was 12:40 p.m. Saturday. Lyndsay, who was at a top-floor bookstore, initially thought it was a robbery. I rushed from home to the shopping center, a mile away. The scene was eerie: Gunmen had shot up cars at the mall's entrance. Bodies lay hanging from the vehicles.
• Volleys of gunfire and small explosions rang in my ears as I and others ducked behind cars.
• Lyndsay's husband, Nick, was with their daughter Julia in the downstairs cafe that appeared to be the initial attack point. He scooped up his toddler and ran. They ended up being pushed into a department store storage area and would stay there the next three hours.
• ___


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