DHAKA: At least 59 people were killed and 175 injured in Saturday’s attack on a Nairobi shopping centre.

A Kenyan government minister has said, reports the BBC.

Joe Lenku said 1,000 people had managed to escape from the Westgate centre after the assault by suspected al-Shabab militants.

He added that between 10 to 15 attackers were still in the building.

It is not known how many civilians remain trapped there, either as hostages or hiding from the militants.

There is a heavy military presence both in and around the shopping centre, and sporadic gunfire can be heard from inside.

There are reports that the gunmen are currently holed up in a supermarket.

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta earlier vowed to ‘hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to’.

Al-Shabab told the BBC it carried out the attack on the upmarket shopping centre in response to Kenyan military operations in Somalia.

There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia, where they have been fighting the militants since 2011.

BDST: 1612 HRS, SEPT 22, 2013
RoR/Jck