A CLOSE relative of a Basildon councillor is among the 62 victims shot dead by terrorists inside a Kenyan shopping centre.

More than 1,000 people were inside the Westgate complex, in Nairobi, on Saturday when gunmen belonging to Somalian based Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab, which has links to Al Qaida, launched their attack.

Echo:

Daniel Munyambu, Labour councillor for Vange, discovered a family member had been shot on the first day of the three-day stand-off.

Mr Munyambu, 39, moved to Basildon in 2007, but many relatives still live in his homeland.

He said: “I am not in a good mood because I have lost one of my close relatives. These attacks are a very bad thing.

“I was not expecting anything like this to happen in Kenya. It seems to have come out of nowhere.

“It’s very hard to detect terrorism in countries like Kenya.

“In Britain, there is a better system in place so more chance of stopping attacks like this.”

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The death toll, which is expected to rise when security forces search the shopping centre, includes six Britons.

The Foreign Office has refused to reveal further details about the victims, but one is thought to be London-based architect Ross Langdon who was gunned down alongside his heavily pregnant Dutch girlfriend. Kenyan officials revealed yesterday security forces had taken “full control of the situation” with almost all hostages evacuated.

Mr Munyambu received an award last year for being one of just two former Kenyans to forge a successful politics career in Britain, following his election to Basildon Council in May 2011.