NAIROBI, Kenya — Dozens of people remain missing one day after a deadly attack on a popular hotel complex in Nairobi, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Tuesday’s attack started with car bombs before armed men invaded the DusitD2 hotel complex, which includes bars, restaurants, offices and banks.

A total of 94 people were reported missing in the immediate hours following the attack, the Red Cross Society said in a statement Wednesday. Although 44 cases were closed, the humanitarian organization said there are still 50 people who are unaccounted for.

Earlier in the day, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed authorities would “pursue relentlessly” those involved in the funding, planning and execution of the attack.

In a televised address, Kenyatta said that “multiple security efforts are underway to detect, deter, disrupt and defeat any terrorist operative or group.” He added that all four militants who stormed the site had been killed by security forces.

“We’re grieving as a country and my heart and that of every Kenyan goes out to the innocent victims,” Kenyatta said. “We are also a nation that never forgets those who hurt our children.”

Sporadic gunfire could be heard from the scene in the morning after scores of people were rescued at daybreak as police continued what they called a mopping-up exercise.

Kenyatta said 14 civilians were confirmed dead. An earlier estimate had put the death toll at 15. He added that more than 700 people have been safely evacuated by rescue teams.

The Red Cross reported that at least 30 people were treated for injuries in hospitals and other health facilities.

Al-Shabab — the Somalia-based Islamic extremist group that is allied to al Qaeda — claimed responsibility for the carnage in a statement. However, that claim had not been verified by authorities.

The State Department confirmed to NBC News that a U.S. citizen was among the dead.

Officials did not release his identity, but his mother, Sarah Spindler, confirmed to NBC News that American victim was her son, Jason Spindler. She said the 40-year-old had been “trying to make positive change in the Third World in emerging markets.”

Kenyan police officers prepare enter the complex in Nairobi on Tuesday.Dai Kurokawa / EPA

“We all miss him so much. And it’s so sad that such a bright young person is taken away by terrorism,” Sarah Spindler added.

Spindler joined the Peace Corps after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and was a graduate of NYU Law and the University of Texas at Austin, and he was the recipient of grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation, his mother said.

The U.K.’s Foreign Office confirmed Wednesday that a British-South African national was also among the dead.

A 2013 attack carried out by Al-Shabab at the nearby Westgate Mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.

Like the attack at the Westgate Mall, this one appeared aimed at wealthy Kenyans and foreigners.

Al-Shabab has vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight it since 2011.

The group has killed hundreds of people in Kenya. In the deadliest attack, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an assault on Kenya’s Garissa University in 2015 that killed 147 people, mostly students. </s> Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta told the nation Wednesday that the suspected al-Shabab terrorist attack on a Nairobi hotel complex was over. But the Kenyan Red Cross said dozens of people remained missing. Some families spent hours looking for loved ones, only to find their worst fears confirmed. Mohammed Yusuf has more from Nairobi. </s> NAIROBI (Reuters) - Fifty people believed to have been in a Nairobi hotel complex when it was attacked by militants remained unaccounted for as of 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) Wednesday, the Kenya Red Cross said, hours after the country’s president said the deadly siege was over.

At least 14 people were killed and more than 700 evacuated from the dusitD2 complex, President Uhuru Kenyatta said. </s> Nairobi: Fifty people believed to have been in a Nairobi hotel complex when it was attacked by militants remained unaccounted for on Wednesday, the Kenya Red Cross said, hours after the country's president said the deadly siege was over.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya's security forces had killed the Islamic extremist gunmen whose assault on a luxury hotel and shopping complex took 14 "innocent lives".

"All the terrorists have been eliminated," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in announcing an end to the overnight operation to secure the complex in the capital, Nairobi.

In a televised address, Kenyatta did not say how many attackers were involved. He said more than 700 people were evacuated during the security operation and urged Kenyans to "go back to work without fear," saying the East African country is safe. </s> Nairobi. Twelve people have been killed in an overnight attack at Bishaaro Hotel in Mandera Town by suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen, police confirmed on Tuesday.

Mandera East police boss (OCPD) Ezekiel Singoe said the 12 included 10 who were visiting for set-book performances at schools in the county.

He said the 10 had arrived in Mandera on Monday to stage plays for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam candidates.

The police boss said they were still identifying the bodies.

The attackers used improvised explosive devices to break the metallic doors at the lodge before shooting the 12 dead in their rooms.

Each room in the hotel accommodated four to six people.

Mandera County Police Commander Job Boronjo on Tuesday morning confirmed the attack but said police were yet to get more details about deaths or injuries as it was still dark in the area.

"We are monitoring the situation. My officers are on the ground. We will give the details when the day breaks," Mr Boronjo said from Garissa, where he was attending an official meeting.

Asked about the exact place of the attack, Mr Boronjo said by phone: "Lets not go into details for now please. Lets wait for update as the day breaks." </s> NAIROBI (Reuters) - A least one person was killed and four injured in an attack on Tuesday at an upscale hotel and office complex in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, a hospital official said.

The five patients were brought to M. P. Shah Hospital and one of them died, said Toseef Din, the facility’s chief operating officer. The Red Cross said four hospitals had received casualties. </s> An upscale complex in Kenya's capital is under attack, with a blast and heavy gunfire. 



Witnesses and police at the scene are calling it a terror attack.



The complex in Nairobi includes a large hotel known as DusitD2, banks and offices.



Several vehicles are burning and people are being rushed and carried from the scene.

Police spokesperson Charles Owino says that "we have sent officers to the scene, including from the anti-terrorism unit, but so far we have no more information."



Ambulances, security forces and firefighters have rushed to the scene, sirens wailing. A large group of women have been hurried out by security forces, one woman still in hair curlers.



What appears to be plainclothes security forces are seen inching their way toward the scene, guns in hand while helicopters can be heard. Other people appear to be taking cover behind fountains and other features in the lush outdoor complex.



The attack immediately reminds many Kenyans of the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi in 2013, when al-Shabab extremists burst into the luxury shopping center, hurling grenades and starting a days-long siege that left 67 people dead. </s> Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says the deadly attack and siege on a hotel and office complex in the capital Nairobi has ended.

In a nationally televised address Wednesday morning, President Kenyatta said 14 civilians had been killed in the attack on the DusitD2 complex, while 700 civilians had been rescued by security forces.

Kenyatta said all the "terrorists" who took part in the attack on the DusitD2 complex had been "eliminated."

The U.S. State Department confirmed late Tuesday that one American was among the dead, but has not identified the victim. A British citizen was also reportedly killed in the attack.

The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab is claiming responsibility for Tuesday's attack, which began in mid-afternoon with an explosion outside a bank and a suicide bombing in the hotel lobby.

Four gunmen could be seen on surveillance video walking through the parking lot with at least one stopping to open fire.

Terrified office and hotel workers and guests ran for cover, streaming from the buildings, climbing out of windows, ducking behind police vehicles and anything they could find while gunfire echoed off the walls.

Police found a sad and grisly scene inside one of the restaurants -- wounded and dead diners at their tables, slumped over unfinished meals.

​Other witnesses say they found human limbs lying on the ground.

Witness Duran Farah told VOA he and some colleagues were entering the complex at the time of the attack.

"A loud explosion happened at the gate. Next there was shooting, an exchange of fire, a lot of fire, and we see people rushing and running around in every direction," he said. He and his friends escaped by running down an alleyway.

The DusitD2 hotel and shops are in an upscale Nairobi neighborhood popular with American, European, and Indian tourists, although exactly who was targeted and why is unclear.

The militant Islamic al-Shabab staged several previous attacks in Kenya, including the September 2013 assault on Nairobi's Westgate Mall that left 67 dead.

VOA State Department correspondent Nike Ching, Somali service senior editor Harun Maruf, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Nairobi bureau chief Daniel Schearf, and reporter Mohammed Yusuf in Nairobi all contributed to this report. </s> An explosive device went off outside a cinema in a busy part of Kenya’s capital and injured two people, police said. One of those injured in the explosion in Nairobi Saturday was a handcart pusher who received a small piece of luggage from an individual who later fled.

The other was a newspaper vendor, said Philip Ndolo, police commander in charge of Nairobi. A manhunt was underway for the unidentified person reported to have deposited the luggage in a cart, Ndolo said.

Detectives think the luggage contained an improvised explosive device that went off, a police officer at the scene told The Associated Press. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to reporters.

The Kenya Red Cross said it sent emergency teams to the scene, which was sealed off by law enforcement officers.

The explosion happened two days after the US Embassy in Nairobi issued a security alert reminding the public about “the continued need for sustained vigilance in public spaces such as shopping malls, hotels, and places of worship”.

Kenya is recovering from a January 15 attack in which gunmen stormed a hotel complex and killed 21 people. The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which is based in neighbouring Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack on the DusitD2 hotel and shopping complex.

Al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaida, has often targeted Kenya in retaliation over Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia. It also carried out the 2013 attack at Nairobi’s nearby Westgate Mall that killed 67 people, and an assault on Kenya’s Garissa University in 2015 that claimed 147 lives, mostly students.
Dozens of people remain missing one day after a deadly attack on a popular hotel complex in Nairobi, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society.