Five bodies seen in Nairobi hotel attack - photographer

Five people were killed in an attack on an upmarket hotel and office complex in Nairobi Tuesday, an AFP photographer saw.
The photographer saw five bodies slumped over tables on a restaurant terrace in the complex, which was hit in an attack claimed by Al-Shabaab Islamists.

A huge blast followed by a gun battle rocked an upmarket hotel and office complex in Nairobi on Tuesday, causing casualties, in an attack claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab Islamist group.

The explosion at the DusitD2 compound, which includes a 101-room hotel, restaurant and several office buildings housing local and international companies, was heard from AFP's bureau some five kilometres (three miles) away.

The al-Shabaab, which carried out a notorious assault on a Nairobi shopping mall in 2013, claimed responsibility, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist activities.

AFP reporters at the scene saw wounded people being evacuated but said the full casualty toll was unknown. Occasional shots were being heard nearly four hours after the blast.

Simon Crump, who works in the complex, said terrified workers barricaded themselves inside their offices after "several" explosions.