Kenyan survivor of school killings is found in hiding

GARISSA, Kenya (AP) -- A survivor of the killings at Garissa University College was found on Saturday, two days after the attack by Islamic extremists killed 148 people.

Cynthia Charotich, 19, told The Associated Press from her hospital gurney that she hid in a large cupboard and covered herself with clothes, refusing to emerge even when some of her classmates came out of hiding at the demands of the gunmen from the al-Shabab group.

She was rescued shortly before 10 a.m., according to Kenyan officials.

Charotich said she didn't believe that rescuers urging her to come out of her hiding place were there to help, suspecting at first that they were militants.

"How do I know that you are the Kenyan police?" she said she asked them.

"I was just praying to my God," Charotich, a Christian, said of her ordeal.

Only when Kenyan security forces had one of her teachers appeal to her did she come out, she said.

Charotich appeared tired and thirsty, sipping on yoghurt and a soft drink, but otherwise seemed in good health.

She said she drank a lotion because she was so thirsty and hungry while in hiding.

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