Lower Merion Native, Young Daughter Escape Kenyan Mall Siege

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Delaware Valley native and his young daughter were inside a Kenyan mall when an armed siege of the building began.

Nick Handler was sitting with his young daughter inside a cafe in the mall when the siege began.

"I heard a loud explosion or blast followed by some gunshots. I happened to be very close to the door; I just reached over, grabbed my daughter and ran out the front door of that cafe," Handler explained.

Handler and his daughter were able to safely escape.

Handler, who grew up in Lower Merion, is a 1999 graduate of Lower Merion High School.

The armed militants stormed the upscale shopping mall in Nairobi on Saturday. A total of 62 people have been confirmed dead, but there are conflicting reports that more bodies are still inside the mall.

Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohamed indicated that the militants include two Americans and a Brit.

The attackers say the mall siege is payback for the Kenyan forces' push into neighboring Somalia back in 2011.

For more information on the shopping mall siege, visit this link.