The stand-off between the Somali militants and Kenyan troops continued into Sunday night in the capital Nairobi.
Official figures of the death toll released by police stood at 68 by Sunday night but the figure is expected to rise as more people are still being held hostage.
The Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also lost his relatives in the massacre which enters its third day .
Three Britons, two French women, two Canadians including a diplomat, a Chinese woman, two Indians, a South Korean, a South African and a Dutch woman are among the dead.
Ghanaian poet and former UN envoy, 78 year old Kofi Awoonor was also killed and his son who survived was injured.
Kenyan security forces are being assisted in the operation by Israeli forces.
Security forces have so far managed to regain and secure most of the Westgate Shopping Mall.
“Our concern is to rescue all hostages alive and that is why the operation is delicate,” the Kenya Defence Forces said in a situation update.
“All efforts are underway to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion,” it said, adding four of its soldiers were wounded in what appeared to be a final battle to secure the mall, which is popular with wealthy Kenyans and expatriates.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in his address to the nation said: “The criminals are now all located in one place within the building… We have as good a chance to successfully neutralise the terrorists as we can hope for”.
“They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts,” Kenyatta said in an emotional speech, in which he announced he had lost a nephew and his fiancée in the attack. “We will punish the masterminds swiftly, and indeed very painfully.”
The Red Cross who have been attending to casualties have sent out an appeal for blood donations.
Rebel group Al Shebab who have claimed responsibility for the attack have issued a statement through rebel spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamed who said:
“If you want Kenya in peace, it will not happen as long as your boys are in our lands,”.
Somalia’s Shebab rebels said the carnage was in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia, where African Union troops are battling the Islamists.
US President Barack Obama called Kenyatta offering support “to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice”, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the violence was “totally reprehensible”.
Kenya’s Vice President William Ruto who is facing trial with the International Criminal Court to delay his trial for crimes against humanity requested for the trial to be delayed due to the standoff
British Prime Minister David Cameron has condemned the attack.
The British Foreign Office Secretary William Hague chaired a meeting of Britain’s crisis committee and a rapid deployment team from London has been sent to Nairobi where they will provide extra consular support.
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