Vigil mourns 147 slain by terrorists in Garissa

Kenyans gathered on Tuesday night remember the innocent victims of the terrorist attack.

They were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and fellow citizens.

They were students and dreamers, pursuing their ambition for a better life.

And on Tuesday night, Kenyans gathered to remember them as innocent victims of a terrorist attack that stunned a nation and left communities heartbroken.

The gathering began with quiet chatter among a crowd of hundreds, before mourners went silent and moved toward one end of Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Then, 147 crosses were unloaded from a truck and quietly planted in the ground.

The names of some of the victims were read aloud and then repeated by the audience in unison. The crowd then sang the national anthem.

The attack at a university in Garissa on Thursday killed 147 people, mostly students. The Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility.

Kenyans attending the event wrote notes honoring the victims and lit candles.

#147notjustanumber

As the country mourned the victims, others took to social media to humanize them by sharing their stories. They talked about aspiring lawyers, doctors and teachers.

Using the hashtag #147notjustanumber, Kenyans used social media to talk about the lives of the victims. They shared pictures of beaming faces, full of life and energy, in happier days. They talked about parents too shocked to speak after identifying their children’s bodies.

“We need to talk about the bright futures cut short,” said Boniface Mwangi, who organized the vigil. “Today’s meeting will be a calling to say, ‘We need to remember the 147; they are not just a number.’ We are trying to avoid remembering these people as just a number.”

Some students remain unaccounted for, and wailing relatives alternate their searches between hospitals and morgues. Kenyan authorities have not released a list of the names of the victims.

• CNN: worldaffairsjournal.org