As an explosion and gunfire rang out in Nairobi’s leafy suburb of Westlands on Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of terrified office workers barricaded themselves inside or fled for their lives on foot.
"We have no idea what is happening. Gunshots are coming from multiple directions," said Simon Crump, an employee at a public relations company who was hiding with two of his colleagues.
The Australian was among a first wave of people evacuated from the office buildings surrounding the DusitD2 hotel, after sustained gunfire. When the attack began, he and his colleagues barricaded themselves inside a spare room.
They waited for about two and a half hours for help to arrive.
"We were focused on getting out of there alive, being acutely aware that there were active shooters throughout the compound that we could potentially come under fire from," he told the ABC’s The World Today programme.
Mr Crump said he thought the Australian High Commission had come under attack.
"I've got a good view of the high commission from my window, and once I realised it wasn't an attack on the embassy, I realised it potentially was a more serious incident than I was anticipating," he said.
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People are evacuated by a member of security forces at the scene where explosions and gunshots were heard at the Dusit hotel compound, in Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters -
Kenyan armed forces rescue people after an attack on a hotel, in Nairobi, Kenya. Extremists launched a deadly attack on a luxury hotel in Kenya's capital Tuesday, sending people fleeing in panic as explosions and heavy gunfire reverberated through the complex. A police officer said he saw bodies, "but there was no time to count the dead." AP Photo -
A civilian meets with friends and family after being evacuated from the scene where gunmen blasted their way into a hotel and office complex in Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters -
People are evacuated at the scene where explosions and gunshots were heard at the Dusit hotel compound, in Nairobi, Kenya. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
Cars are seen on fire at the scene. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
A window damaged by bullets has escaped shattering. Baz Ratner / Baz Ratner -
Members of the security forces in situ. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
A woman is evacuated. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
A member of the security forces gestures as people take cover. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
Security forces stand guard. Ben Curtis / AP Photo -
People are evacuated from the danger zone. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
An armed soldier takes cover next to a bullet-riddled window. Dai Kurokawa / EPA -
A member of the security forces keeps guard as people are evacuated. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
People stand next to a wall as events unfold. Raphael Ambasu / AFP -
A vehicle is seen as a member of the security forces keeps a look out. Thomas Mukoya / Reuters -
A Kenyan woman (R) is overwhelmed by emotions after receiving the news that her relative (not pictured) was rescued from a business complex in Nairobi, Kenya, a day after suspected militants stormed an upscale hotel and office complex killing several people. The attack has been claimed by Somalia's Islamist militant group al-Shabab. Interior minister Fred Matiang'i said late 15 January that security forces have secured all the buildings without giving further details. According to media reports, at least 15 people have been killed, but no official number has been so far confirmed by the government. EPA -
A woman is rescued at the scene of an on going terrorist attack at a hotel complex in Nairobi's Westlands suburb. Fifteen people have died in the Islamist attack on an upmarket hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenyan police sources said on January 16, as fresh explosions and gunfire rang out in the siege which stretched into its second day. AFP -
Kenyan police officers return from the scene inside a business complex in Nairobi, Kenya, a day after the attackers stormed the compound killing several people in an attack claimed by Somalia's Islamist militant group al-Shabab. Interior minister Fred Matiangi said late 15 January that security foces have secured all the buildings without giving details. EPA
When soldiers finally reached the group, they instructed them to put their phones away and put their hands in the air.
"When the security personnel arrived there was a lot of commotion," Mr Crump said. "One of the biggest fears you have in such a situation is whether the people who are banging at the door are the people who are going to get you out of such a situation, or whether they are the people who are going to hurt you."
The group was eventually led to safety.
"It's a traumatic time, it's a very stressful time … you are wondering whether you should be messaging your loved ones to say, 'Thank you, it's been swell, please forgive me and I love you', or, 'Please be calm and we will be out shortly'."
Security forces worked throughout the night to get people to safety and secure the compound, which includes a 101-room hotel, spa, restaurant and office buildings, after the attack claimed by Al Shabab militants on Tuesday afternoon.
Attackers were ‘very confident’
One survivor rescued from the building told a local television station the attackers were "very confident; they were people who knew what they were doing".
At least one suicide bomber blew himself up at the hotel while gunmen sprayed fire before engaging security forces and holing themselves up at the premises.
Surveillance video showed three attackers dressed in black running across the car park at 3.30pm local time (4.30pm UAE), shortly followed by a fourth.
At least two of the men were wearing green scarves in the close-up footage. One appeared to be wearing a green belt with grenades on it.
'A flash of lights and a loud bang'
Kenya is a base for hundreds of diplomats, aid workers, businessmen and others operating around East Africa.
"I just started hearing gunshots, and then started seeing people running away raising their hands up and some were entering the bank to hide for their lives," a woman working in a bank in the complex said, adding she heard two explosions.
John Maingi said there had been "a flash of lights and a loud bang" at the Secret Garden restaurant where he works.
"When I peeped outside I saw a human leg which has been cut off. We hid in the room and then some police officers rescued us," he said.
Reuben Kimani, a barista who was rescued after several hours trapped inside the hotel, said he recognised one of the attackers as a client.
"I knew one of them because he had a big scar on one of his hands," he said. "I saw them. They shot six of my friends, four didn't die but two succumbed."
Geoffrey Otieno, who works at a beauty salon in the complex, said he heard a loud bang from something thrown inside the building, then saw shattered glass.
"We hid until we were rescued," he said.
‘Men with scarves on their head and bandoliers of bullets’
The compound targeted contained offices of various international companies, in an echo of a deadly 2013 assault on a Nairobi shopping centre in the same neighbourhood.
"The main door of the hotel was blown open and there was a human arm in the street," said Serge Medic, the Swiss owner of a security company who ran to the scene to help when he heard of the attack from his taxi driver.
Mr Medic, who was armed, entered the building with a policeman and two soldiers, he said, but they came under fire and retreated. An unexploded grenade lay in the lobby, he said.
"One man said he saw two armed men with scarves on their head and bandoliers of bullets," Mr Medic told Reuters, as gunfire echoed in the background.
As the siege stretched into its second day on Wednesday, it was revealed that 14 people did not make it out of the hotel complex alive, with 11 Kenyans, a Briton and an American reported among the dead.
By mid-morning Kenya's president Uhuru Kenyatta said that security forces had killed all four militants who stormed the complex. More than 700 people had been taken to safety, he said.
"I can confirm that... the security operation at Dusit complex is over and all the terrorists eliminated," Mr Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation.
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