Blast rocks Kenyan capital, at least 28 hurt

A blast struck a shopping complex in Nairobi’s business district during Monday’s lunch hour, wounding more than two dozen people, but there was confusion over whether the explosion was caused by a bomb or electrical fault. Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told reporters it was too early to determine the cause of the blast. He said blackened wires inside the trading centre indicated a possible electrical fault and ruled out a grenade attack. Two shopkeepers, however, told Reuters independently that they saw a man drop a bag inside the trading centre moments before the blast. “He came into the shop twice, looking at t-shirts. He said he didn’t have money so he left. Then he came back,” said Irene Wachira. “(He was) three shops away from where I was. He left a bag and a few moments later we had an explosion. The roof caved in and debris started falling on us,” Wachira said. Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Kenyans would not be cowed by “terrorists”. More than ten people have been killed in a string of attacks in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa since Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October to fight al Qaeda-linked militants. Nairobi has blamed the al Shabaab militants, who merged with al Qaeda earlier this year, for the surge in violence and kidnappings that has threatened tourism in east Africa’s biggest economy and wider regional destabilisation.