Among these Kenyans was Satpal Singh, who braved onslaught from both police officers and the terrorists to save lives/AFP
Lives were lost, hundreds were injured and the spirit of Kenyans came to the fore once again. Various stories of how some brave civilians and security agents rescued the day after armed terrorists took over the Westgate shopping mall were highlighted.
Among these Kenyans was Satpal Singh, who braved onslaught from both police officers and the terrorists to save lives.
On the one hand were terrorists, armed and hungry for human blood. On the other side of the fence, were police officers hunting down the cruel attackers.
For Singh, it was literally a catch 22.
“I got shot at four times; twice by a young man as I was trying to help someone who had been injured and twice again by police officers who thought we were terrorists when we were asking for help from the terrace of the mall,” he told Capital FM News.
“It is by God’s grace that those bullets missed me.”
Singh was having a meeting at the Java Coffee House on the second floor of the mall when loud bangs rented the air and disrupted the soft music that was playing.
He and his friend dashed to the rails to see what was happening downstairs only for their eyes to be met by a horrid sight.
“There was a stampede near the main entrance. People were running around and some of them had fallen on the ground and were being stepped on,” he recalled.
But instead of running for cover like most people would do, Singh and his friend decided to go downstairs to see if there were any people they could help and take to safety.
On their way down, they bumped into a police officer who was hiding behind a pillar with an AK-47.
According to Singh, who was only armed with a baton that he had taken from a security guard, the officer declined to accompany them downstairs.
“I requested him to come with us so that we can confront the men because he had a gun but he refused and we went without him,” said Singh.
When Singh and his unnamed friend got to the main entrance, they saw one person with the face lying down; another person was lying dead near the staircase.
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