OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Saturday 9.00PM.
ONE hundred and eight people are now confirmed dead and some 4000 estimated injured in the bomb blast which devastated the United States Embassy and flattened a neighbouring building in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday morning.
Rescue workers say that 154 people have been reported missing, and expect the death toll to continue to rise.
An almost simultaneous but less powerful blast at the US embassy in Dar es Salaam has left nine dead and 60 injured.
An experienced Israeli team has arrived in Nairobi with sniffer dogs, personnel and medical supplies and has taken charge of the rescue operation.
Rescue workers are still trying to free several people trapped in a lift under tons of rubble in Ufundi House, the five-storey building that collapsed in the blast. Six similarly trapped people were pulled from the rubble on Saturday morning.
Eight US embassy staff are dead, with another five still missing. A massive investigation is under way by various US agencies, members of which have flown into the shocked city.
Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi has meanwhile declared the next five days as a time of national mourning.
South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki says security will be stepped up at the US embassy in Pretoria and at the homes of staff. Security is similarly being stepped up in other US embassies around Africa.
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