She's described as "a bright young light". Annemarie Desloges of Ottawa was one of two Canadians killed in a horrifying mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya that left 62 dead and 175 injured.
The 29-year-old diplomat had been working in Nairobi. Her husband Robert Munk was injured in the attack.
Desloges and Munk were at the Westgate Mall shopping, along with hundreds of ex-pats when she was shot. At her east Ottawa home, her family requested privacy to deal with her loss. Her "work" family, the Professional Association of Foreign Officers posted this note:
"Annemarie was one of our bright young lights, and hers was a career brimming with promise,” wrote Tim Edwards, the President of the Association. “Today we grieve the loss not only of a warm and intelligent friend and colleague, but a lifetime's potential tragically unfilled."
Ottawa resident Sue Christie grew up in Nairobi and still has family and friends there.
"I haven't heard the list of names of people killed,” says Christie, as she watched the events unfold on television, “but I know at least one of the people I went to school with has been injured. It's frightening.”
Christie says her mother and sister are fine...but worries what this will mean for the country she once called home.
“This kind of thing hitting the news; tourists cancel their trips. Kenya gets struck off the list of wonderful places to go and it is a wonderful place to go.”
Political scientist Stephen Brown has conducted research in Kenya and has been to Westgate Mall 15 to 20 times.
He says al shabaab has attacked Nairobi in the past but nothing to this extent.
“It is something that's ongoing but this is their biggest and most high profile attack so far. They are surely planning more.
Sue Christie anxiously waits to see the list of names of the victims killed in the attack. But she is adamant that this tragedy cannot make victims of us all.
“You can’t live your life worrying about terror.”
