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Nairobi mall to re-open 2 years after extremist attack

Kenyan dignitaries take a tour of the Westgate Mall, during a viewing for the media prior to it being re-opened to the public, in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Kenyan officials say the city's Westgate Mall will re-open Saturday, nearly two years after an attack there on Sept. 21, 2013 by al-Shabab extremists left at least 67 people dead and led to a four-day siege by security forces. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Kenyan dignitaries take a tour of the Westgate Mall, during a viewing for the media prior to it being re-opened to the public, in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Kenyan officials say the city's Westgate Mall will re-open Saturday, nearly two years after an attack there on Sept. 21, 2013 by al-Shabab extremists left at least 67 people dead and led to a four-day siege by security forces. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Kenyan dignitaries take a tour of the Westgate Mall, during a viewing for the media prior to it being re-opened to the public, in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Kenyan officials say the city's Westgate Mall will re-open Saturday, nearly two years after an attack there on Sept. 21, 2013 by al-Shabab extremists left at least 67 people dead and led to a four-day siege by security forces. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

By Associated Press 2 min read

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Nairobi’s Westgate Mall is to re-open Saturday, nearly two years after it was attacked by Somalia’ Islamic extremist rebels who killed at least 67 people, Kenyan officials said Tuesday.

The mall has been extensively refurbished since the devastating four-day siege.

The violence erupted on Sept. 21, 2013 when four Islamic militants entered the mall and fired on shoppers. Kenyan police and army responded but the gunmen held the building for four days. The four attackers are believed to have died from smoke inhalation from a fire that collapsed a central roof. The mall was left in shambles, with bullet-scarred walls, shattered windows, flooded floors and bloodstains. Kenyan army soldiers were also accused of looting shops.

But Kenya has rebounded from the violence, said Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, who toured the mall on Tuesday.

“The indomitable Kenyan spirit prevailed, they didn’t break our spirit,” Kidero said. Every business that had a shop in the mall is back, Kidero said.