A documentary detailing an indiscriminate terrorist attack that left 71 dead in Kenya.
On September 21st, 2013, four unidentified gunmen attacked the upmarket Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. They claimed to be part of a terrorist group with links to Al-Qaeda and even released a video after the attacks, claiming victory over the non-believers and that there would be plenty more attacks in the future. It was a bustling mall, full of life and energy but once the gunmen struck, it turned into a nightmare that lasted more than two days. The film interviews men, women and children who were there that day.
Right after the initial attack on the mall, many people managed to escape but there multitudes of people who were trapped in various stores with some hiding underneath display tables in the center of the mall. The film shows the attacks by means of security cameras which were interspersed throughout the building. As the gunmen casually made their way through the mall, anybody found alive was shot and killed instantly. These evil animals killed anything that moved including men, women and children, no one was spared.
What was even more unbelievable though, was that 90 minutes after the attack, only a few armed policemen were outside the mall. It would be several more hours before a S.W.A.T. team turned up and even then, they were busy deliberating on how they should enter the premises while inside, innocent people were dying. A small group of plain-clothes police officers and two civilians who were licensed to carry, entered the mall and managed to help free dozens of people.
Later, when the S.W.A.T. team eventually made their way inside, they fired on the plain clothes officers, inadvertently killing one of them at which point, both sides left the mall so that no more accidental deaths would occur. In the end, the military fired a high explosive shell into the store where the terrorists were holed up and completely decimated them, along with most of the building. The film shows the heroism of everyday people under extraordinary circumstances and while 71 people sadly lost their lives that day, many more were saved because of a small group of selfless heroes. Highly recommended.
Premieres tonight on HBO at 9pm
