Kenya attacks: US citizen killed by terrorists in Nairobi was a 9/11 survivor

"As thousands of people fled from the collapsing World Trade Center, Spindler did the opposite: He ran straight into the rubble and began pulling people out", his roommate told media.

Image courtesy: Facebook

New Delhi: American citizen Jason Spindler who was among those killed in the terror attack in Nairobi’s posh hotel compound on Tuesday, had survived the September 11 attacks in New York, only to die in another terror attack. As per reports, Spindler, originally from Texas, was a Wall Street analyst at the time of the September 11 attack on New York. He subsequently joined the Peace Corps, going on to found a business development firm based in Nairobi. He would have turned 41 next week; CNN affiliate KTRK quoted his parents Before starting his own company, Spindler worked at 7 World Trade Center in New York. As per a report in CNN, on the morning of the day the devastating attack took place at WTC, he was late to work. He was emerging from the subway as the first tower fell, his mother told. The Washington Post quoted his roommate Kevin Yu as saying: “as thousands of people fled from the collapsing World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, Spindler did the opposite: He ran straight into the rubble and began pulling people out.” Spindler left investment banking, pursued a law degree at New York University and later moved abroad to focus on social entrepreneurship, the report said. In a statement, NYU's law school said Spindler is "warmly remembered by those who knew him. His tragic death is a loss not only to his loved ones, but to the community of individuals dedicated to improving the lives of others through social enterprise.” On Tuesday afternoon, Somali-based Al-Shabab terrorists struck the DusitD2 hotel compound, an upmarket cluster of shops and several offices in Nairobi's affluent Westlands neighbourhood . The attack began at a bank inside the compound. An explosion ripped through three vehicles in the parking lot, followed by a suicide blast in the foyer of the Dusit Hotel, police chief Joseph Boinnet was cited as saying by CNN. An unknown number of gunmen then burst through the complex, leading to a standoff that continued through the night, with people trapped in various parts of the buildings. Report: