NBC晚间新闻 美国人描述悲惨的肯尼亚商场逃生

American describes harrowing Kenya mall escape

美国人描述悲惨的肯尼亚商场逃生

After avoiding both gunfire and grenades, Bendita Malakia has finally arrived back home following her ordeal¹ at the Kenya mall where terrorists killed dozens of civilians². She hid for five hours until an American security team showed up and rescued her and the group of people she was hiding with. NBC’s Tom Costello reports.

Bendita Malakia在躲开了机枪和手榴弹后，在肯尼亚一处商场经历过磨难过后终于回到了家。恐怖分子在商场中杀害了几十名平民。她躲了五小时，直到一支美国安全队出现将她与跟她一起躲着的一群人救出。NBC的Tom Costello报道。

And tonight as we said we are hearing from an American survivor³ who was inside the mall, meeting with a friend for lunch when the attack began. She is now back home safely in this country where she described to NBC's Tom Costello about her harrowing ordeal, and how she made it out there and lived to tell about it.

Nice to see it. You survived. How do you feel? At dulles airport this afternoon, American Bendita Malakia was finally back home.

It's okay, it's okay. It's okay.

reporter: A Harvard-trained lawyer with the world bank, Bendita was in Kenya having lunch in a mall on Saturday when terrorists suddenly budged⁴ in.

And then all of a sudden there was this explosion, and everybody like hits the floor. And we hear machine guns. And it was maybe ten seconds later, still trying to crawl out. It was a second explosion. But when they first came in, they were just shooting. I mean, they were not asking any questions, they were just shooting.

reporter: Crawling away from the gunfire, Bendita and her friend made it to an employee break room in a nearby store and waited with 15 other people. Their only defense⁵, a fire distinguisher.

Listening to the terrorists in a store once more above them.

And then we would just hear some talking, like random⁶ things, like christian⁷, muslim, and then people would respond or scream, don't shoot, and then you would hear some people walk and some people get shot.

reporter: For five hours they hid, listening to the gunfire, Bendita texted her father, please pray, I love you all very much.

You just feel so helpless, you know? And then out of nowhere she says, an American security team showed up.

This American security forces guy came back and said look, we have been under a lot of pressure to get you out. If you guys want to get out, we understand it is dangerous, but this is probably your best shot.

reporter: Everybody in the store room ran from the mall.

And then like within 30 feet of us, two grenades are thrown. And that was our first breakdown⁸.

reporter: She says she doesn't know yet if she will return to Kenya, but for now, she is home. Tom Costello, NBC News at Dulles airport.

1 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

4 budged   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Old Bosc had never budged an inch--he was totally indifferent. 老包斯克一直连动也没有动，他全然无所谓。 来自辞典例句
• Nobody budged you an inch. 别人一丁点儿都算计不了你。 来自辞典例句

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。