American businessman who survived 9/11 attacks was been killed in another act of terror, in Kenya
- American businessman and 9/11 survivor Jason Spindler died in a tragic terror attack in Kenya on Tuesday.
- Spindler was living in Nairobi, where he worked to help advise and develop emerging businesses.
- On September 11, 2001, Spindler narrowly escaped the attack on the World Trade Center, where he worked at the time, because he was late for work.
- He later joined the Peace Corps, helping develop a co-op with farmers in northern Peru.
One of the victims of Tuesday's terror attack in Kenya was an American businessman who survived the September 11, 2001 attack on New York City.
Jason Spindler, 40, was the founder, CEO, and managing director of business investment advising firm I-DEV International, which specializes in developing businesses in emerging markets, CNN reported Thursday.
He was visiting Nairobi, Kenya, on a business trip when the DusitD2 compound came under attack from men "armed with guns and explosives," according to the CNN report.
The Nairobi attack was sadly not his first run-in with terorism. His mother, Sarah Spindler, told ABC News affiliate KTRK that on September 11, 2001 her son emerged from the subway in New York, a few minutes late to his office in 7 World Trade Center - just as the first tower collapsed. She said after the tower fell, he returned to the site to help.
"He was all covered in dust," she told KTRK.
His mother also told the KTRK that after surviving the attack, Spindler joined the Peace Corps and was sent to northern Peru, where he worked with farmers to develop a co-op. He founded I-DEV and was living in Nairobi for the last three years, KTRK reported.
Terrorist group al-Shabaab, a Somalian al-Qaeda affiliate, claimed responsibility for the coordinated attack on the DusitD2 compound that started Tuesday afternoon. The assault, which lasted until Wednesday morning, included a foray of car explosions, suicide bombings, and armed gunmen.
By Wednesday evening, the death count had risen to at least 21, and nearly 30 others were hospitalized, according to a CNN report.