Nairobi, April 2: Gunmen attacked a college campus in northeast Kenya Thursday, opening fire in dormitories and killing at least 70 people and wounding 29, witnesses said.
The attack bore the hallmarks of a Somali Islamic extremist group.
Augustine Alanga, a 21-year-old student who survived the attack at Garissa University College, described a panicked scene as gunshots rang out outside their dormitory in the pre-dawn hours when most people were still fast asleep.
The shooting became more intense almost immediately, he said over phone. The heavy gunfire forced some students to stay indoors as others fled with gunmen firing at them. Alanga said he saw at least five heavily armed, masked gunmen.
“I am just now recovering from the pain as I injured myself while trying to escape,” said Alanga, who was one of scores of students who managed to escape through barb-wire fencing.
At the time the attack started, morning prayers were underway at the university mosque, where students were not attacked, he said.
A mortuary attendant in the town of Garissa says at least 70 people have been killed and at some 60 were injured. Some of the more serious wounded were being flown to Nairobi, authorities said.
The gunmen had opened fire at guards, triggering a “fierce shootout” with police guarding student dorms, Kenya’s National Police Service said in a written statement. The attackers managed to get into the dorms of Garissa University College, raising the possibility of hostage-taking.
The National Disaster Operations Centre said on Twitter that three of four dorms have been evacuated, with the gunmen cornered in one dorm.
Police and military surrounded the buildings and were trying to secure the area, police officer Musa Yego said.
No further details were immediately available and Kenya Defence Forces have surrounded the area, journalists said, impeding their access. PTI