Mogadishu: The death toll from the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Somalia’s capital rose to 189 with more than 200 injured, making it the deadliest single attack ever in the Horn of Africa nation, police and hospital sources said 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 authorized 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 Mohammad Abdullahi Mohammad 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.
Deadly blasts
The first explosion — in the city’s K5 Junction area which is lined with government offices, hotels, and restaurants — destroyed several buildings and set dozens of vehicles on fire, said Abdullahi Nur, a police officer who was in the area.
This video news report was uploaded on Youtube on Saturday, in the immediate aftermath of the blasts. The death toll rapidly climbed from 20 on Saturday to 189 late on Sunday.
“The death toll will surely rise. We are still busy transporting casualties,” he said, adding that there were bodies under the rubble.
About two hours later, a second blast took place in the city’s Madina district.
“It was a car bomb,” Siyad Farah, a police major, told Reuters, adding that a suspect had been caught on suspicion of planting explosives.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the Islamist al Shabaab group has carried out regular attacks
The Al Qaida-allied group is waging an insurgency to topple the UN-backed government and its African Union allies.
They frequently launch gun, grenade and bomb attacks in Mogadishu and other regions controlled by the federal government.
In recent years the militants have lost most territory under their control to African Union peacekeepers and government troops.
