At least 22 people have reportedly been killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Gunmen opened fire and detonated grenades inside the Westgate centre, a mall popular with expatriates.
Police chief Benson Kibue described the incident as a terrorist attack, telling the AP news agency up to 10 men exchanged gunfire with police.
A spokesman for Kenya's Ministry of Interior added: "It is a possibility that it is an attack by terrorists, so we are treating the matter very seriously."
An injured woman is carried to an ambulance inside a shopping trolley At least 22 people were killed in attack, according to a Kenyan Red Cross official who spoke to AP.
Police sources said they had wounded and detained one of the suspects and hoped that the situation "would soon be under control".
Earlier, Abbas Guled, a spokesman for the charity, said: "The casualties are many and that's only what we have on the outside. Inside there are even more casualties and shooting is still going on."
Cars and shopping trolleys were left abandoned outside the mall Staff at a supermarket and a jewellery store were among a number of people taken hostage by the attackers, according to Nairobi-based journalist Abdi Osman Adan.
He told Sky News witnesses reported seeing the attackers "firing at any police officers who tried to approach the building".
Security forces were still trying to rescue those trapped inside the mall hours after the start of the siege, going from shop to shop to evacuate shoppers and staff.
An ambulance arrives as a woman flees from the shopping centre Graphic photographs taken at the scene showed people with serious injuries being treated at a makeshift hospital inside a food court.
Other images showed injured people being carried out of the mall in shopping trolleys, as well as upturned tables and chairs from where people had fled the shooting.
Elijah Kamua, who witnessed the attack, said the gunmen asked Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the Somali militant group al Shabaab had previously threatened to attack the mall.
Shoppers leave the mall, which is situated in an affluent area of Nairobi Satpal Singh, who was in a cafe when the attackers struck, said he ran downstairs and was shot near the main exit of the mall.
"A Somali guy shot at me," he said. "He was carrying a rifle, an AK-47."
Another witness, who gave only his first name, Jay, added: "They were not speaking Swahili. They spoke something that seemed like Arabic or Somali."
In a message posted on Twitter, Kenya Police urged the public "to remain calm" and not to speculate about the attack.
The shooting happened in Kenya's capital city Nairobi "We urge you to stay away (from the mall)," they added.
Westgate is situated in western Nairobi and is popular with both foreigners and rich Kenyans.
According to the centre's website, it is the city's "premier shopping mall" and offers a "serene and safe enviornment away from the city centre hubbub".
It has more than 80 stores and features a waterfall with tropical gardens.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are looking into whether any British nationals have been caught up in the incident and are ready to provide consular assistance.
"We are advising British nationals to avoid the area."
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