Explosions in Kenya target hotel complex

Two explosions and gunfire were heard at an upscale hotel complex in Kenya’s capital on Wednesday afternoon, according to an office worker in a neighbouring building.

“We are under attack,” another person in an office inside the Dusit hotel complex – which also houses offices – told the Reuters news agency. Local television showed smoke rising from the area.

Nairobi Police Commander Philip Ndolo said they had cordoned off the area around Riverside Drive due to a suspected robbery.

Flames and plumes of black smoke billowed into the sky from the parking lot of the compound where several vehicles were on fire, with scores of people fleeing the compound, some of them lightly injured.

Somalia-based armed group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack that came a day after trial began in deadly Westgate mall attack case that left 67 people dead.

via Al Jazeera