A truck bomb exploded outside a hotel at a busy junction in Somalia's capital, causing widespread devastation killing 276 and injuring more than 200 people. Death toll from blast in Somalia's capital rises to 276. Many victims were left trapped in Safari Hotel; and the Qatar embassy was severely damaged
in the Hodan district of Mogadishu. Here the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Mogadishu occurred, making it the deadliest single attack of its kind in Somalia.
Somali Senator Abshir Abdi Ahmed provided the latest numbers on Sunday, citing doctors at hospitals he visited in Mogadishu.
On Saturday, October 14, 2017 a truck bomb exploded that targeted a busy street near key ministries.
Qatar said its embassy was "severely damaged" in the blast and its chargé d'affaires was "slightly injured." 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 to 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.
'This is really horrendous, unlike any other time in the past.'
-Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, director of Medina hospital Somalia's government has blamed the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab extremist group for the attack it called a "national disaster." "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." The United States joined the condemnation, saying "such cowardly attacks reinvigorate the commitment of the United States to assist our Somali and African Union partners to combat the scourge of terrorism." Edited from CBC
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