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Tom Minear 
Herald Sun
September 22,2013

A MELBOURNE woman and her father have crawled out of a six-hour nightmare spent trapped in a Kenyan shopping centre under attack by terrorists.

Sarah Williamson, 23, the ex-girlfriend of Carlton skipper Marc Murphy, was visiting her father in Nairobi when they were caught up in the horrific siege that has seen 68 people killed and at least 200 wounded.

Her mother, Linda Williamson, said her daughter described the ordeal as "the most terrifying experience of her life".

The father and daughter sheltered in the back of a shop after they heard grenades go off as terrorists stormed the mall.

"She heard a grenade go off and then her father heard the next one and gunfire," Ms Williamson said.

"He knew they were under attack and they went into the back room."

They barricaded themselves with eight other people and tried to stay as quiet as possible.

Ms Williamson was also in Nairobi to study for upcoming law exams.

They managed to escape after six hours when armed forces secured the floor they were on.

"They crawled out along the perimeter of the building," her mum said.

Ms Williamson said her daughter was "so glad to be out" but her thoughts were with the other victims.

"She's doing really well, she's heading up to the hospital to donate some blood now," she said.

"She called me at about 2.30am because she didn't want me to wake up, see it on the news and panic and wonder where she was."

Ms Williamson said her daughter was due to stay in Kenya for another month and was still "planning to stay there for a bit".

Meanwhile, Sarah's sister, Amy, has cancelled media interviews this morning over concerns for hostages still in the mall.

Amy took to Facebook as a media pack gathered outside her house.

"Due to certain safety and protection issues of those involved and those still in the building I have cancelled my interviews. I have been instructed to make no further comments on the matter, so for now let's all just hope this ends soon and those hostages are returned to there (sic) loved ones ASAP," she wrote.

Australian lawyer Heidi Edwards was with a group who sheltered in a stairwell, having fled from a yoghurt shop when the shooting and explosions began.

The University of Melbourne law graduate, who is working as an associate at the Kenya Human Rights Commission before returning to Victoria next year, told the ABC that at first she did not realise the loud bang she had heard was a weapon. She then thought it might be a robbery, before she grasped how serious the predicament was.

"It sounded like scaffolding falling at first, I wasn't that concerned," Ms Edwards said.

"Then there was some panic going on and then another one (noise) in quick succession and then some gunshots."

She found an unlocked "staff only" door leading to a service exit and used the stairs to get down to the ground floor along with a group of people.

"Somebody else, not us, poked their head out and saw a gunman," Ms Edwards said.

"It sounded like scaffolding falling at first, I wasn't that concerned," Ms Edwards said.

"Then there was some panic going on and then another one (noise) in quick succession and then some gunshots."

She found an unlocked "staff only" door leading to a service exit and used the stairs to get down to the ground floor along with a group of people.

"Somebody else, not us, poked their head out and saw a gunman," Ms Edwards said.

"There was no sirens which, for a Westerner was quite surprising - if that happened in Australia there would be sirens everywhere.

"It was just confusion more than anything else."

Former Australian resident Greg Aldous, a New Zealand national who now lives in Kenya, also escaped the frightening attack after cowering in a box.

Mr Aldous was buying groceries when there was a stampede of people shouting: "They're shooting, they're shooting!"

Fearing his white skin would make him a target, he hid for an hour before making a frantic escape through a car park.

"One of the snipers shot a dude about 10 metres away, just a guy, just a waiter," Mr Aldous said.

"We were petrified, it was a terrifying situation. They were coming in through the front, they were coming in through the back and we were just sitting ducks ... They are horrible people."

About 1000 shoppers were stranded in the mall when the terrorists struck.

Two French women and two Canadians, including a diplomat, are among the 59 dead.

- with Jessica Marszalek and Penelope Debelle, AAP

tom.minear@news.com.au