Over 231 killed in deadly Mogadishu bomb blast
275 injured in the attack that hit Somalia’s capital; al-Shabab yet to respond
Mogadishu, Oct. 15: The death toll from the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Somalia’s capital rose to 231 with more than 275 injured, making it the deadliest single attack ever in this Horn of Africa nation, senator Abshir Abdi Ahmed said on Sunday.
Many of the bodies in mortuaries had not yet been identified, he said. Officials feared the toll would continue to climb from Saturday’s truck bomb that targeted a busy street near key ministries.
Angry protesters gathered near the scene of the attack as Somalia’s government blamed the Al Qaida-linked alShabab extremist group for what it called a “national disaster.”
Doctors struggled to assist horrifically wounded victims, many burned beyond recognition. “The hospital is overwhelmed by both dead and wounded,” said Dr Mohamed Yusuf, the director of Medina hospital. “This is really horrendous, unlike any other time in the past.”
The death toll from the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Somalia’s capital rose to 231 with more than 275 injured, making it the deadliest single attack ever in the Horn of Africa nation, police and hospital sources said on Sunday.
Doctors struggled to assist horrifically wounded victims, many burnt beyond recognition.
Officials feared the toll would continue to climb from Saturday’s truck bomb that targeted a busy street near key ministries.
Sources for the death toll spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to reporters.
Ambulance sirens still echoed across the city as bewildered families wandered in the rubble of buildings, looking for missing relatives.
“In our 10 year experience as the first responder in #Mogadishu, we haven’t seen anything like this,” the Aamin Ambulance service tweeted.
Grief overwhelmed many. “There’s nothing I can say. We have lost everything,” wept Zainab Sharif, a mother of four who lost her husband. She sat outside a hospital where he was pronounced dead after hours of efforts by doctors to save him from an arterial injury.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared three days of mourning and joined thousands of people who responded to a desperate plea by hospitals to donate blood for the wounded victims.
“I am appealing all Somali people to come forward and donate,” he said.
“The hospital is overwhelmed by both dead and wounded. We also received people whose limbs were cut away by the bomb. This is really horrendous, unlike any other time in the past,” said Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, the director of Medina hospital.
Overnight, rescue workers with flashlights searched for survivors trapped under the rubble of the largely destroyed Safari Hotel, which is close to Somalia’s foreign ministry. The explosion blew off metal gates and blast walls erected outside the hotel.
Somalia’s government has blamed the al-Qaidalinked al-Shabab extremist group for the attack it called a “national disaster.”
However, al-Shabab, which often targets highprofile areas of the capital with bombings, had yet to comment.
“They don’t care about the lives of Somali people, mothers, fathers and children,” Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said. “They have targeted the most populated area in Mogadishu, killing only civilians.”