Mogadishu’s ambulance coordinator Ali Muse said at least 70 people had been killed by the blast. The African Union force in Somalia (AMISOM) said the attack had claimed “scores of lives”.
The AU force said a truck laden with drums of fuel rammed a checkpoint outside a compound housing government ministries in the K4 (Kilometre 4) area of Mogadishu, where students had gathered to register for scholarships offered by Turkey.
The al Shabaab insurgents who carried out the attack later warned Somalis to stay away from government buildings and military bases. “More serious blasts are coming,” spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage told reporters.
The twisted axle from the exploded truck lay on blackened soil. A body draped with a red shawl lay nearby. People used corrugated iron, rugs and white sheeting to carry corpses away from the devastation at a normally bustling junction.
Ambulances rushed to and fro past twisted, charred trees and a burnt out car. Hundreds of parents stood weeping outside the Madina Hospital in Mogadishu after being denied access for security reasons and nurses said they were overwhelmed.
“I was among the first people to arrive here moments after the explosion. I looked around and reassured those who were still alive,” said witness Halma Abdi.
Britain slammed the blast as “callous” while France said it was a “vile terrorist attack” and reasserted its support for the country’s U.N.-backed transitional government.