Nairobi - A fertilizer bomb could have caused the
blast that ripped through a building full of small shops, an official
told The Associated Press on Tuesday as the FBI joined the
investigation.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said the smell of ammonia at the scene of Monday's explosion on Moi
Avenue indicates the possible presence of a fertilizer bomb, which is
commonly made of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil.
Among the 33
people wounded was a woman who blamed the blast on a "bearded man" who
left behind a bag shortly before the detonation.
The intelligence
firm IntelCentre said militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Somali group
al-Shabaab bragged about acting as journalists and conducting interviews
of survivors after the blast. IntelCentre said the development poses
significant challenges to security forces and legitimate members of the
media covering attacks.
The explosion sent dark smoke billowing
out of a one-story building on the downtown avenue named after Kenya's
second president. The blast peeled back the front corner of the
building's aluminum roof, shattered windows in the building and
scattered shoes, clothes and other wares on the ground. A high-rise
building with a glass exterior next door was largely untouched.
Al-Shabaab
threatened in October to bring down Nairobi skyscrapers and referenced
the July 2010 bomb attacks they masterminded in Kampala, Uganda, that
killed 76 people. Al-Shabaab issued the threat against Kenya after
Kenyan troops moved into Somalia to attack al-Shabaab fighters.
One
shop worker wounded in the blast, Irene Wachira, said from her hospital
bed on Monday that a bearded man came to a nearby stall three times and
acted as if he were interested in buying something. Wachira said the
third time he came with a bag that he left behind. The blast occurred
shortly afterward, she said.
Wachira described the man as
"Arabic-looking" because of his relatively light skin. A doctor told AP
that another person wounded in the blast said a Somali-looking man left
behind the bag. The doctor said he could not be quoted by name.
Al-Shabaab has not yet made any public comment on the attack.
Police
officials first indicated that Monday's explosion could have been
caused by some sort of electrical malfunction but the prime minister
said it was deliberate.
"This is a heinous act," Prime Minister
Raila Odinga said while visiting the scene of the blast. "They want to
scare us. But we will not be scared."
- SAPA
