A busy coastal town in Kenya was attacked by gunmen late Sunday night. Some of those killed had gathered to watch the World Cup on television.
The group responsible for the attack is suspected to be Al-Qaeda linked insurgents.
According to BBC News, the gunmen began shooting people at random at a busy trading area.
Hamaton Mwaliko, the local police chief, said that they carried out their attack by hijacking a van in a town nearby.
The attackers stole weapons and vehicles from a police station that was also on fire.
Two hotels were caught on fire when the men opened fire from a minibus, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Some hotels in the town are on fire. We don’t know how many casualties are there for now. We understand the attackers have already fled but our officers are pursuing them,” Mwaliko said.
At least 48 people were killed, including at least one police officer The New York Times reported.
Local residents of the town have fled, some to nearby forests.
Lamu, a popular tourist town, is located near where the attack took place.
British tourists were evacuated last month from beach resorts around the area when warnings of terror attacks were released.