A survivor of the Kenya university massacre hid in a wardrobe for two days cowering in fear before finally being rescued today, as a horrifying picture of a classroom strewn with dead bodies emerged.
Cynthia Cheroitich, 19, was initially too petrified to come out, but a lecturer she knew eventually convinced her that police officers were not the al-Shabaab gunmen who slaughtered nearly 150 people at the college.
Her rescue, 50 hours after the barbaric attack began, came as a photograph of a blood-stained classroom filled with bodies was revealed.More pictures after cut
Ms Cheroitich, who hid under a pile of clothes, told police officers that she drank body lotion to survive because she was too terrified to open the wardrobe doors.
Kenyan troops searching the building were alarmed when they heard sounds coming from inside a wardrobe.
A police officer said: 'She kept asking for reassurance from the security forces they were not Al-Shabaab before she could come out.
'She was given milk and rushed to the Garissa hospital, where she is being observed before being given counselling.'
Speaking later in hospital, the survivor said she told officers from inside the wardrobe: 'How do I know that you are the Kenyan police?'
'I was just praying to my God,' Ms Cheroitich, a Christian, said.
Four other survivors from the massacre at Garissa University College were also found yesterday.
The terrorists raided the university early on Thursday morning, overwhelming guards and murdering people they suspected of being a Christian.
A total of 148 people were killed in the six-hour siege, with the gunmen shooting and beheading those who could not recite the Koran.
Most of those killed were students but two police officers, one soldier and two watchmen are among the dead.
Kenya's interior minister, Joseph Nkaissery said the four terrorist gunmen had strapped themselves with explosives. When officers shot at them, they exploded 'like bombs' and shrapnel injured officers.
Kenyan security officials said dozens of hostages were freed and four of the gunmen, believed to be armed with AK-47s, were killed.
Five people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack, including three people who were trying to cross into Somalia, where al-Shabaab is based.
Kenyan officials said all three were associates of Islamist teacher Mohamed Mohamud, who authorities say coordinated the attack. There is a £145,000 bounty on his head.
In a chilling warning today, the terrorist group said more attacks like the university massacre were planned.
'Kenyan cities will run red with blood,' al-Shabab said in a statement, according to the SITE intelligence monitoring group.
The militants said the barbaric attack was in retaliation for killings carried out by Kenyan troops fighting the rebels in Somalia.
'This will be a long, gruesome war of which you, the Kenyan public, are its first casualties.
'No amount of precaution or safety measures will be able to guarantee your safety, thwart another attack or prevent another bloodbath.'
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