The Latest: Death toll more than 70 in Kenya college attack

Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said that more than 70 people have been killed in an attack by Somali-based Islamic extremists on a college in northeast Kenya.

Nkaissery said that 79 people were wounded in the attack yesterday and four suspected attackers have been killed. He told reporters the total number of the attackers is still unknown and that security agents are fighting them at Garissa University College.

The minister ordered a dusk to dawn curfew in Garissa and in the nearby counties of Wajir, Tana River and Mandera.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

The death toll now surpasses the 67 who were killed in al-Shabab's attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in September 2013.

Kenya's interior ministry said two of the gunmen who attacked a college in northeast Kenya have been killed.

In a statement on Twitter, the ministry said yesterday: "Two terrorists have been neutralised in the ongoing operation. Security agencies intensify rescue operation."

Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said that most students at Garissa University College that was attacked by al-Shabab gunmen remain unaccounted for, more than 11 hours after the attack started.

Nkaissery said: "Garissa University college has a student population of 815 and about 60 members of teaching staff, as of now we are able to account for 292 students and all the staff."

The known death toll from the attack by the Islamic extremists is now 17, with the deaths of two of the attackers. An unknown number of hostages are being held. Many students scattered when the attack began at 5:30 a.m.