Death toll from bomb in Somalia rises to 276

DESPERATE Somalis searched for news of missing loved ones yesterday, after a massive truck bomb in Mogadishu killed at least 276 people and left 300 wounded in the deadliest ever attack to hit the conflict-torn nation.

Residents of the Somali capital, while wearily accustomed to regular bombs and attacks by Islamist militants, have been left stunned by the monster explosion on Saturday, which gutted buildings and left victims burned beyond recognition.

A statement from the Information Ministry yesterday said “276 people were killed in the blast . . . and 300 wounded were admitted at the different hospitals in Mogadishu.”

Police official Ibrahim Mohamed said that many of the victims were “burned beyond recognition” in what he described as “the deadliest attack ever”.

Turkey sent a military plane full of medical supplies to Mogadishu yesterday, also evacuating some of the injured for treatment.

The blast occurred at a junction in Hodan, a bustling commercial district which has many shops, hotels and businesses in the city’s northwest. Several experts said the truck was probably carrying at least 500 kilograms of explosives.

Local government official Muhidin Ali said over 100 bodies who were impossible to identify had already been buried.

“The gruesome dead bodies were displayed at the hospitals for relatives but a few were recognised and most of them not at all, the devastation is something beyond the imagination of humankind,” he said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Shabaab, a militant group aligned with al-Qaeda, carries out regular suicide bombings in Mogadishu in its bid to overthrow Somalia’s internationally backed government. The group has a history of not claiming attacks whose scale provokes massive public outrage.

Security officials said hundreds of people had been in the area at the time of the blast, with police saying it was difficult to get a precise number of victims because the bodies had been taken to different medical centres while others had been taken by their relatives for burial.

A regional security expert said it was likely the truck bomb was triggered before it reached its true target.

The devastation caused was widespread. Muhidin Ali, a Mogadishu resident who was close by at the time said it was, “the biggest blast I have ever witnessed, it destroyed the whole area”.