9 Kenyan Virginia Tech students safe

Nine Kenyans studying at a US university where a gunman killed 32 people on Monday have confirmed that they are all safe.
At the same time, the gunman was identified by police Tuesday as Cho Seung-Hui, a South Korean studying at the university.
Police said Cho was 23 and was studying English literature. They gave no motive for the shooting rampage, the worst in US history.
“We are safe. We Kenyans here are all OK,” said Mr James Mutunga, a doctoral fellow at the university.

He said there were nine Kenyans pursuing their studies at the institution who were all safe.
Said Mr Mutunga: “There are nine Kenyans here pursuing their undergraduate and graduate studies. We were able to get in-touch with each other and were able to ascertain the safety of all.”
“We do not know of any (Kenyan) staff here in Virginia Tech as of now. We lost friends in the killings (students and lecturer) and we are still not sure how many in number,” he wrote in an email to natiomedia.com.
Mr Mutunga said none of the Kenyans witnessed the shooting, and relied on information from fellow students and news outlets.
He said: “I managed to pass close to where the first shooting occurred 30 minutes after and did not realise it until later. The puzzle is that the killer waited for another two hours to unleash terror which claimed more fatalities. The assumption was that he had fled after the first killings but for sure he managed to make the attacks later to the surprise of all.”
He described the incident as frightening, adding that all students had gathered for prayers and to comfort each other.
Police said one of two guns recovered was used in both of the two separate shooting incidents at the campus that killed a total of 33 people, including Cho.
“The evidence has not led us to say with all certainty that the same shooter was involved in both shootings,” Steven Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, told a news conference.
“It’s certainly reasonable for us to assume that Cho was the shooter in both places.”
Victims were found in at least four classrooms as well as a stairwell, he said.
“The gunman was discovered among several of the victims in one of the classrooms,” Flaherty said. “He had taken his own life.”
The rampage sent the sprawling rural campus, where there are more than 25,000 full-time students, into shock and grief. President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush were to attend a memorial service at Virginia Tech later today.
Television images of terrified students and police dragging out bloody victims revived memories of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 and were likely to renew heated debate about America’s gun laws.

Police said the gunman appeared to have used chains to lock doors and prevent victims from escaping. Fifteen people were wounded, including those shot and students hurt jumping from windows in a desperate attempt to flee the gunfire.
Many students expressed anger that they were not warned of any danger until more than two hours after the first attack at a dormitory - and then only in an e-mail from the university.

__________________________________
Sources: Daily Nation
Story by MURIITHI MURIUKI and REUTERS
Publication Date: 4/18/2007