London, Sep 23 (IANS): An Indian man was shot when he failed to answer a question on Islam posed by a heavily-armed gunman who had struck at a mall in Nairobi, a media report here said.

Joshua Hakim saw gunmen, some of whom looked to be teenagers, strapped with ammunition belts. They were carrying AK-47 assault rifles. "They were firing indiscriminately, they shot a lot of people," theguardian.com quoted him as saying Sunday.

During a lull in the firing, the gunmen spoke in Swahili for Muslims to identify themselves and leave.

Hakim covered the Christian name on his ID with his thumb and approached one of the attackers. He showed the plastic card.

"They told me to go. Then an Indian man came forward and they said, 'What is the name of Muhammad's mother?' When he couldn't answer they just shot him," he said.

It was not clear from the media report whether the Indian was injured or fatally shot.

The hostage crisis that began Saturday has left at least 68 people dead and more than 175 injured.