CANTON – St. Lawrence University says its students in Nairobi, Kenya are safe, but it is monitoring developments there, where Islamist militants have killed dozens of people at a shopping mall in the country’s capital city.

Dozens more people in the incident remain unaccounted for, many of whom are believed to be held hostage by the armed gang of Somalians.

SLU, which has a Kenya Semester Program, says all of its people in Nairobi are safe and accounted for.

“Our students are safe and unaffected by these events,” said Karl K. Schonberg, who oversees the university’s overseas programs. He said the students are in a neighborhood that is far from the scene of the shopping mall slaughter.

This is not the first time the university has become concerned about students in their Kenya program.

In the spring of 2008, SLU considered canceling the program that semester due to unrest over elections in the East African nation.

People with questions may call SLU’s International and Intercultural Studies office at 229-5991.