Blast in Somalia claims 189 lives, 200 injured

Jacob Zuma and Eze Imo, Ohiri during the conferment of ‘Ochiagha Imo’ on Zuma

Blast in Somalia claims 189 lives, 200 injured

About 189 persons have been reported dead and 200 injured in a powerful bomb blast witnessed in Moghadishu, Somalia’s capital.

Reports on Sunday say this is the deadliest single attack ever in the Horn of Africa continent.

Somalia’s information minister, Abdirahman Omar, said the blast was the largest the city had ever seen. “It’s a sad day. This how merciless and brutal they are, and we have to unite against them,” he said, speaking to the state-run radio station.

Although al-Shabab, which often targets high-profile areas of the capital with bombings, had yet to comment, Somalia’s government has blamed the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab 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.”

“Doctors struggled to assist horrifically wounded victims, many burnt beyond recognition. Officials feared the toll would continue to climb from Saturday’struck bomb that targeted a busy street near key ministries.

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”, the AFP said Sunday.

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 torch lights 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.

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.”