Cape Town - An 18-year-old South African played dead and then helped others while shots rang out during the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya.
Reports said Zachary Yach was having lunch with his mother and sister when members of Somali militant group al-Shabaab launched an attack on the high-end mall on Saturday. Yach is the nephew of Cape Town ultra-swimmer Theodore Yach.
Zachary recently moved to Kenya with his family after his father Jonathan was made managing director of international property group Broll.
Jonathan declined to comment on the incident but referred to the attack as a “national tragedy”.
Zachary told BBC news how they came from a doctor’s appointment and were heading for lunch when they heard an explosion, dropped to the floor and hid underneath a table. They pretended to be dead for about two and half hours before they were rescued by members of a tactical response team.
“The first time we saw the terrorists come out, I just said to my mom: ‘It’s a scary thought but just play dead.’ So we did that, but I kept an eye open to see what was going on and if they were coming into the restaurant.
“We were there for a good two and a half hours under the table and about halfway into it, the police arrived with the army and they started heading up the steps of the main entrance. There was a bit of a gun battle going on while we were still on the floor.”
When the tactical response team arrived, he got his mother and sister to get up.
“Then we went back to help a guy with blood running from his head and a guy with the bullet wound in his arm. All five of us survived”.
South African high commissioner to Kenya, Super Moloi, said he had no information about Zachary, but confirmed a South African woman who was believed to be missing was safe.
“We managed to trace her, she was staying in a hotel room next to the mall and her family got worried when they could not reach her, but they have contacted us and told us she is okay.”
The mall came under attack on Saturday and Capetonian James Thomas was killed in the attack.
Moloi said the body of 57-year-old Thomas was still in Kenya and the autopsy report as well as other documents were needed in order for it to be sent home.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta declared three days of national mourning after more than 60 people were killed.
Moloi said the mall was still a crime scene and that only police and soldiers had access to the building, where three floors are said to have collapsed.
“There is forensic work now taking place. No one knows if there are any more bodies of hostages or gunmen still in the building.”
Moloi added there were no South Africans he knew of “caught up” in the mall, but said that it could not be ruled out.
“If we get information stating otherwise, we will send it as it comes out.”
The Home Affairs Department has denied reports it is investigating whether a British woman travelled to Kenya on a forged South African passport and took part in the attack on the Westgate Mall.
Home Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said the case was not being investigated by the government, but it was on standby if Kenyan authorities wanted to look into the matter.
Media reports said the woman could be Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of one of the suicide bombers who took part in the 2005 bomb attacks on London’s transport networks.
“We investigated this matter for the Kenyan government in 2011 and confirmed that it was a false document,” said Mamoepa.
Cape Argus