One of the most high profile individuals who survived the deadly 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi was John Joseph Kamotho.
Famously known as JJ, Kamotho was the Mathioya Member of Parliament and the Minister for Trade and Industrialisation.
In August 2014, Kamotho narrated to The Standard how he survived that fateful day, having been on the 16th floor of the Cooperative building.
The ex-minister stated that he was in his office hosting US Ambassador, Prudence Bushnell, when the bomb went off.
The picture of his bloodied face, as he was carried out of the building to the hospital, made the front pages of local newspapers and became the image of the attack that shook the nation.
“I was hosting the US Ambassador in my office and we had been discussing trade issues between our two countries. The discussions were over and we were having coffee when we heard something that sounded like a bomb, which was followed by a second huge explosion,” Kamotho narrated.
He further narrated how his security jumped on him and tried to cover him from any possible harm.
“My security detail jumped to my protection. I was very afraid,
My first instinct was to run for my life and try and find a way out of the place. I was injured in the explosion,” he went on.
His security detail then carried him down the staircase all the way to the ground floor.
He further recalled how that felt like the longest journey of his life.
“I remember when we reached downstairs, I was put in a vehicle that drove straight to Nairobi Hospital where I found my son Charles Kamotho and other family members waiting for me. Charles was the first family member I saw and he is a medical doctor, which was reassuring,” the ex-mp opened up.
The bombing happened on August 7, 1998, where terrorists believed to be linked to Al-Quaeda attacked the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
