East FM’s Presenter & Ruhila Adatia’s Friend & Colleague Recounts the Westgate Mall Terrorist Attack
Kamal Kaur is in her 30s and a loving mother of two absolutely gorgeous kids. When she isn’t working at Radio Africa as a radio presenter on East FM she is penning for The Star newspaper. Kamal or Kam as she’s fondly referred to by those close to her was at the Westgate Shopping Mall as part of East FM’s crew when the terrorists attacked.
A close friend and colleague to the late Ruhila Adatia, Kamal narrated the harrowing ordeal in which she and her children almost lost their lives.
Kamal attended the event which she tells the Sunday Nation was “packed with kids”. And after the competition began, Ms Kaur said they heard popping noises.
“We heard what sounded like firecrackers,” she said, narrating how the group then ran to the edge of the parking lot and looked over to see people streaming out of the mall.
She then ran to find her son and they tried to get the children out through the Java service entry.
“One man shot at my son, but he managed to duck. He was wearing blue jeans, a black T-shirt, sunglasses and an Arabic headscarf (kaffiya) wrapped around his head. He was holding a big automatic weapon, and I could see a pistol sticking out of his pocket.”
Here’s her recollection;
I could only watch in horror as my son Armaan missed a bullet by an inch as my daughter Sapna pushed him and herself down. I was trying to pull down the little boy who got shot instead of my son. Both my kids were hurt but are thankfully ok. I’m sorry I’m not taking any calls. It’s traumatic repeating the story over and over again. We are thankfully safe and I’m humbled with your love and support. We had someone looking out for us today. Armaan was helping a little girl evacuate through Java’s service entrance despite being hurt on his leg. I’m so proud of my son. He’s only 8. A kind Samaritan had to carry Sapna out as her leg was bleeding heavily and there’s still a lot of shrapnel in both their legs.
I have lost a dear colleague who was pregnant. She just took Sapna’s baby cradle last week to start getting things together for the arrival of her baby. I don’t know what to do or say.
I don’t know who else we have lost today. I had no idea where my kids were but they were so sensible and kept telling everyone to pretend they were dead so they wouldn’t be shot at. I know a lot of families have been ripped apart today. I just don’t know what to do or say. I’m sorry I’m not taking calls. I just cant speak.
Thank you for everything. Thank you for calling, messaging and looking out for us. We are safe. Please pray, please donate blood at any hospital. There are little children who need you to save their lives. There’s peoples relatives there. Please help.
Here’s the second part
