An American woman who survived the terrorist attack at a Kenyan Mall has returned home to Washington D.C. on Tuesday.
Bendita Malakia, a "Harvard-trained" lawyer with the World Bank, was rescued by a security team whom she believed to be American, NBC reports.
Malakia, 30, was at the Westgate shopping center in Nairobi with two of her friends when there was an explosion. The terrorists from the Somalia-based al Shabaab entered the shopping center and began shooting, killing an estimated 61 civilians and 6 security officers and injuring multiple people.
"People are screaming, you hear lots of running, gunshots, explosions, and there's all sorts of things," she said. "Some of the older women especially are hyperventilating, it's just kind of, it's complete chaos, it's mostly gunshots and screaming and running at that point."
The American survivor explained once the terrorists stopped blindly shooting, they began targeting people who were not Muslims.
"When they first came in, they were just shooting. They weren't asking any questions, they were just shooting," Malakia said. "Later, they tried to differentiate on religion, but at first they were just shooting."
Malakia said an "American" security team came in and rescued her and 15 others who were hiding in a room at a hardware store in the mall, telling the group:
"'If you guys want to get out, we understand it's dangerous but this is probably your best shot. If you don't get out now you may not get out.'"
Malakia said she could hear the "machine gun" firing happening above her in the room.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed on Tuesday that the Al Shabaab terrorist attack was officially over.
According to NBC News, neither the Pentagon, State Department nor the World Bank reportedly sent in a security team.
"It was terrifying, we all had a very real sense that we were going to die," Malakia said.
Read Bendita Malakia's full story, here.
