US embassy bomb victims still not compensated in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenyans gathered Wednesday to commemorate the day more than 200 people were killed in a terror bomb attack that targeted U.S. embassies in the country and in neighboring Tanzania.

But during the ceremony at the August 7th Memorial Park, which featured flowers laid and candles lit, survivors said they have yet to receive any compensation from the U.S. since the almost simultaneous twin terror attacks by al-Qaeda in Nairobi and in Dar es Salaam killed 224 victims and wounded more than 5,000 others.

Jacinta Watere was holding placards at the ceremony, which read: “Terrorists win when justice is denied to victims … we demand compensation.”

Watere was on a bus next to the embassy when the bomb struck Aug. 7, 1998. “While we were waiting for things to clear I heard a loud bang followed by ringing in my ears, I didn’t feel anything at that moment," she told Anadolu Agency. "Looking around I saw I had been thrown on the other side where people lay dead. I could not move.”

She sustained injuries to her head, left eye, legs and arms and now has trouble hearing and breathing.

“I spend all my time in hospitals. I lost my job due to my injuries, decades later no one has compensated us. People lost their loved ones. The U.S. should compensate us from funds seized from the al Qaeda.”

Timothy Oloo, another survivor, told Anadolu Agency that a lot of the victims died because of a lack of proper health care. "All the people you say here are in and out of hospital,” he said.

U.S.-based attorney Phillip Musolino, who represents 538 Kenyan affected by the bombings, told the crowd he will pressure courts to ensure that the U.S. compensates victims in Kenya and Tanzania.

The U.S. insists that it was not responsible for the attacks and has not issued payments to the victims.

The American Supreme Court is set to rule in October whether to award a $4.3 billion lawsuit to Kenyan and Tanzanian victims.