Somalia: At least 20 dead in Mogadishu blast

[oberliner]

Last edited Sat Oct 14, 2017, 12:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: BBC

A massive bomb attack in a busy area of the Somali capital Mogadishu has killed at least 20 people, police say.

Many others were wounded when a lorry packed with explosives detonated near the entrance of a hotel.

Images from the scene show the area has been completely devastated. Police say the death toll may rise.

It is not clear who staged the attack. Mogadishu is a regular target for the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab group, which is battling the government.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41621660

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Updated: Somalia: At least 30 dead in Mogadishu blasts

[nitpicker]

1. Update

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bomb-rocks-somalias-capital-20-people-killed-1508026482

WSJ said more than 50 people killed.

Bloomberg radio just claimed the death toll is now 85.

[oberliner]

2. Two separate attacks

In close proximity.

[BeyondGeography]

3. Now 189 dead and perhaps more

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/death-toll-from-blast-in-somalias-capital-rises-to-53/2017/10/15/183e8f70-b17d-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html?utm_term=.58e4f5e33a70

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.

[oberliner]

4. Awful

The assumption seems to be Al-Shabaab.

[Eugene]

5. Mogadishu truck bomb: 500 casualties (at least 239 dead) in Somalia's worst terrorist attack

Source: The Guardian

Mogadishu truck bomb: 500 casualties in Somalia’s worst terrorist attack

At least 239 people killed and hundreds seriously injured in attack blamed on militant group al-Shabaab

Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Sunday 15 October 2017 19.21 BST

At least 500 people are believed to have been killed or seriously injured in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in one of the most lethal terrorist acts anywhere in the world for many years.

The death toll from Saturday’s attack, which involved a truck packed with several hundred kilograms of military-grade and homemade explosives, stood at 239 on Sunday but is expected to rise as more bodies are dug from the rubble spread over an area hundreds of metres wide in the centre of the city. At least 300 people were injured, according to local reports.

Rescue workers on the ground said it would be difficult to establish a definitive death toll because the intense heat generated by the blast meant the remains of many people would never be found.

The devastating bombing will focus attention on the decade-long battle against al-Shabaab, an Islamist group, in Somalia. It provoked a chorus of international condemnation. Michael Keating, the UN special envoy to Somalia, called it “revolting”.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/15/truck-bomb-mogadishu-kills-people-somalia