NAIROBI, Kenya — An upscale mall popular with the Kenyan elite and the foreign diplomats and businesspeople who call Nairobi home turned into a war zone on Saturday, as gunmen opened fire on shoppers in an apparent terrorist attack, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more.

At nightfall, the mall remained sealed off to the public as police officers and soldiers searched floor by floor for the gunmen, who were still believed to be inside with hostages.

Witnesses described hearing explosions and gunfire as they fled, leaving behind blood, broken glass and carnage in what was apparently one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country’s history.

Joseph Momanyi, 26, an employee at the Nakumatt grocery store there, said that as he was running away he heard the attackers shouting that “Muslims should leave” the complex.

The authorities said it was too early to identify the culprits, but suspicion immediately focused on the Shabab, the ferocious Somali militant group that has been linked to past attacks in Kenya, including a grenade and gunfire attack on two churches last year that killed 15 people.

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