Somalia’s bomb blast leaves over 300 dead and several injured

The situation in the East African country is still alarming since the government hasn’t still figured out the best strategies to help fight and stop the Al-shabab militants.

A bomb blast has been reported to have happened during the early hours of Saturday 14, 2017 in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

According to the sources, the witnesses and the officers at the crime scene, at least 20 people have been counted dead, several still missing and quite a good number of them seriously injured and now hospitalized.

“We know that at least 300 civilians are dead while dozens of others are wounded,” Abdullahi Nur, a police officer who was in the area, informed the journalists.

“The death toll will surely rise. We are still busy transporting casualties,” he said, adding that there were bodies under the rubble.

The witnesses, who were also in fear of having lost their beloved ones and seeing bodies being dug out from the building, stated that this was the biggest blast that they hadn’t heard in years.

Explaining the tragedy, an officer at the scene informed that the blast came after the law enforcers had noticed a strange truck which aroused suspicion and started following it.

He added that when the truck reached a certain hotel (Safari Hotel), the fighters detonated the bomb which erupted in to a very huge sound.

“The fighters first detonated a bomb outside the hotel’s gate, and then about four gunmen on foot gained entry into the hotel and started shooting at the patrons and also the security of the hotel,” explained the officer at the scene.

Sources have shown that the blast was followed by a very dark cloud of smoke seen up the sky, and could also e seen from a far distance.

“It was horrible, very horrible. Many people have been killed as a results and a lot are in hospitals fighting for their lives now. I saw several of the dead bodies but could not even count. It was terrifying,” one of the witnesses, Ismail Yusuf explained the fear.

Later in the day (Saturday), another blast also happened in the city’s Madina District and according to the sources, two people were immediately reported dead.

“It was a car bomb, two civilians killed,” Syeda Farrah, a police officer said.

However, on the second attack, there was a suspect caught alleged for planting the explosives – said the officer.

Al-shabab is a group under Al-Qaeda that is trying to overthrow the Somali government by all means, as it claims.

As for this time, despite the group’s always wanting to display and take responsibility, sources show that they haven’t come up to claim responsibility this time.

Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu