8 chilling photos from the Kenya mall siege

(Image credit: (REUTERS/Noor Khamis))

On Saturday, the Somalia-based al Shabab terror group used deadly force to take control of an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. As many as 16 assailants lobbed grenades and fired automatic weapons into a crowd of weekend shoppers, killing at least 68 people and taking an unknown number hostage. The siege continued into Monday as government forces battled the terrorists for control of the building.

The images of shoppers-turned-survivors crawling, ducking, and sprinting for safety, often doing whatever they could to help petrified strangers do the same, shows how terrifying this ongoing ordeal really is. Here, a selection:

Medics take cover behind a large tree as gunfire and explosions are heard from the mall on Monday. Multiple large blasts rocked the building on the third day of the hostage siege. (AP Photo/ Jerome Delay)

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Lauren Hansen produces The Weekâ€™s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.