Nairobi mall attack: Boy acts dead to save self from death

Nairobi, Sept 22: Eighteen-year-old Umar Ahmed used his timely instinct and played dead to save himself from death.

Ahmed was enjoying a relaxed Saturday trip to a Nairobi shopping mall when gunmen stormed in and all hell broke lose.

He could see one of the gunmen approach and look at him

"I was at Westgate Mall rooftop at the parking, and all of sudden I heard screams and gunshots all over the place," Ahmed recounted.

"I got scared. I tried to run down the stairs and saw someone running towards the top, I ran back and hid behind one of the cars," he said from his hospital bed at MP Shah Hospital, where he is nursing burns to his hands and chest.

According to reports, Ahmed said he found himself on the ground, playing dead. He said he could see one of the gunmen approach and look at him. "Thankfully he turned back," he said. "After a while, the police came and we were able to be evacuated."

According to the hospital manager Manoj Shah, more than 100 casualties were brought to his facility alone following the attack on the Westgate mall, which was claimed by Somalia's al Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels.

OneIndia News