A Philadelphia-area native who was in Africa helping farmers escaped the shopping mall terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya, according to NBC News sources.
NBC News has learned that Nick Handler was with his wife Lyndsay, who is 8 months pregnant, and their 2-year-old daughter Julia at the Westgate Mall when the shooting began.
Handler, 32, is a graduate of Lower Merion High School and grew up in Wynnewood, Pa. The Main Line native was in Nairobi as a general partner and country director for the One Acre Fund, a non-profit group that provides loans and training to small farmers in Africa.
According to the Daily Mail, Handler said he and his daughter were eating in the mall’s food court while Handler’s wife shopped on another level of the mall when the shooting began. According to NBC News, Handler grabbed Julia and an to a storage room where he hid out along with dozens of others for hours until they were able to escape. Lyndsay Handler hid out in a movie theater until she was able to make it to the roof, where she was rescued.
The whole time the couple communicated by cell phone.
The Handlers were reunited and according to NBC News sources are leaving Kenya, though it’s unclear where they are headed.
When reached by NBC10 Tuesday morning, Handler’s family wasn’t ready to comment to the incident.
