At least 59 have been killed as dozens of hostages still in hands of gunmen

A Chinese woman was killed as gunmen stormed an upscale shopping mall in Kenya's capital on Saturday.

The 38-year-old unidentified woman was one of 59 confirmed dead in Nairobi's Westgate Mall in the bloodiest attack in the country since 1998. The death toll may climb as soldiers on Sunday were still fighting the heavily armed militants, who are believed to have at least 30 hostages.

The Chinese woman's child was injured in the terrorist attack, Wu Shifan, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Nairobi, told China Daily.

The boy is in a local hospital and his condition is stable, Wu said, without giving more details.

The embassy has warned Chinese people to avoid visiting popular places in Kenya. There are about 20,000 Chinese in the country, the Kenya Overseas Chinese Association estimated. They mostly work in industries such as infrastructure, retail, catering and tourism.

Kenya's Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said on Sunday that the government believed there were 10 to 15 attackers, saying they were investigating their identities, but without giving details.

"We are doing everything reasonably possible to make sure that the hostages who are still in the building come out safely," he said.

Al-Shabaab, a militant Somali group that has declared allegiance to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.

Security forces had been able to "isolate" the attackers, the minister said.

He said 175 people had been taken to hospital and that more than 1,000 had been evacuated from the shopping mall.

France said two of its citizens were killed, and Canada said two Canadians died, including a 29-year-old diplomat.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said several US citizens had been hurt and the wife of a US diplomat working for the US Agency for International Development was killed.

Two diplomats - one from Canada and the other from Ghana - were killed.

The assault was the biggest single attack in Kenya since al-Qaida's East Africa cell bombed the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, facing his first major security challenge since his election in March, said his nephew and his fiancee were among the dead.

Other than subduing the attackers and saving the hostages, the immediate challenge for the president is to calm a panicked country.

"We have overcome terrorist attacks before. In fact, we have fought courageously and defeated them within and outside our borders. We will defeat them again. Terrorism in and of itself, is the philosophy of cowards," Kenyatta said on Saturday night.

Lucy Miruka, director of Eventful Kenya, an event organizer, told China Daily that all Kenyans were shocked and scared by the attack. "The terrible thing for people is that you may be involved in the violence anywhere at any time, when you just go shopping or sit in a restaurant, drinking coffee or tea," Miruka said.

"No one knows where it's safe. Kenyans need to be strong to overcome this horrible attack," she said.

Relatives of hostages still trapped in the mall kept vigil overnight at a nearby religious community center.

"I want her to come out alive," said Kevin Jamal, as he joined Kenya Red Cross Society volunteers and waited for news about his sister, who he said was being held inside.

The dead included children, and the wounded ranged in age from 2 to 78. Many victims were at a cooking competition when assailants opened fire on them, witnesses said.

Gunfire erupted on Sunday at the shopping mall.

The shooting, lasting about 30 seconds, came after a period of tense quiet in the standoff, a Reuters witness said, speaking from close to the shopping center that has several Israeli-owned outlets and which is frequented by Westerners and Kenyans.

Soldiers joined the security operation backed by armored personnel carriers in the hours after the attack was launched. Security forces have been combing through the mall, clearing the floors.

As helicopters hovered over the capital, a paramilitary officer at the scene, a rifle slung over his shoulder, said they will be arranging how to attack the assailants.

Israeli advisers are helping Kenya formulate a strategy to end the siege, an Israeli security source said.

One woman emerged on Sunday morning after she had been hiding under a car in the basement. She was holding one shoe and looked dazed, and was making a frantic phone call to her husband who later met her.

Al-Shabaab, which is battling Kenyan and other African peacekeepers in Somalia, had repeatedly threatened attacks in Kenya if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of the country.

Reuters, AP and AFP contributed to this story.

liuzhen@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 09/23/2013 page6)