15 children among dead as lorry bomb death toll rises

THE death toll from Saturday’s lorry bombing in Somalia’s capital has risen to more than 300, including 15 primary schoolchildren, as the country reeled from the deadliest single attack it has ever experienced.

Dr Abdulkadir Adam of Aamin Ambulance service said more people had died of their wounds in the past few hours.

Funerals began, and the death toll was expected to rise again.

Saturday’s bombing targeted a crowded street in Mogadishu, and about 300 others were injured.

Somalia’s government is blaming the al Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, which has not commented.

Officials said more than 70 critically injured people were being airlifted to Turkey for treatment yesterday as international aid began to arrive.

Nervous relatives stood at the airport, praying for the recovery of their loved ones.

Overwhelmed hospitals in Mogadishu were struggling to help other badly-wounded victims, many burned beyond recognition.

The attack was one of the worst in the world in recent years.

It was one of the deadliest attacks in sub-Saharan Africa, larger than the Garissa University attack in Kenya in 2015 and the US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

Information minister Abdirahman Osman said other countries including Kenya and Ethiopia had already offered to send medical aid in response to what Somali’s government has called a “national disaster”.

Al-Shabab, Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group, often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu.