Muslim locals saved fellow Christians from a potential massacre during a Monday siege on a bus outside of the northeastern Kenyan city of El Wak.

Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation reports two people were killed and three injured when 10 Somali militants, suspected to be part of the Islamist terror group Al-Shabaab, stormed a bus and a lorry in Mandera County.

According to Gov. Ali Roba, the 62 passengers banded together, protecting the non-Muslims on the bus from being singled out and likely murdered.

"They refused to separate from non Muslims and told the attackers to kill all passengers or leave. That is why some locals were injured trying to protect non-Muslim passengers," Roba said to the Daily Nation.

Survivor Abdirashid Adan told the paper that he was injured when the militants shot at the bus, forcing it to stop. One person attempted to run and was shot dead.

Eventually, the passengers were able to escape.

"As the attackers started separating passengers according to their religions, we heard the sound of an oncoming lorry," Adan said. "They all ran back into the bush thinking it was police. After realizing it was not police, they stopped the lorry as we dashed back into the bus and sped off."

The brave actions of the passengers prevented a tragedy similar to one that took place a little over a year ago. Al-Shabaab militants attacked a bus of teachers in the region, removing 28 non-Muslim passengers before shooting them dead, The Guardian reported.

In the past, Al-Shabaab has indiscriminately killed Muslims and Christians alike, such as in the April attack on Garissa University that left 147 people dead.

"These Muslims sent a very important message of the unity of purpose, that we are all Kenyans and that we are not separated by religion," Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery told local media Captial News. "Everybody can profess their own religion, but we are still one country and one people."