On Saturday, Somalia experienced its worst terrorist attack ever. More than 300 people have died so far and hundreds more are seriously injured – have you heard about it?
The blast in Mogadishu involved a truck packed with several hundred kilograms of explosives, both military-grade and homemade, and it’s been ruled one of the most lethal terror attacks across the world in years.
WATCH: 1.1 million refugees come from Somalia, here’s some more sobering stats on refugees across the world.
The huge number of people killed and injured by this attack can make it easy to distance yourself from its sheer horror, but the personal stories that are emerging are making it feel much more real.
The devastation has indeed been overwhelming and widespread and people are regaling news outlets with horrific details of destruction.
“I have seen a headless toddler,” one woman told AJ+. “No one knows where the rest of the body is.”
“This was the worst massacre in 27 years.”
A tragic photo taken of two boys at the scene has rocked social media. People are claiming they were carrying the scorched remains of what they believe is their mother, a vendor at the markets where the truck exploded.
A doctor at the local hospital stressed the horror of the attack and said 160 of the bodies pouring into the ER could not be recognised.
“[They] were buried by the Government yesterday. The others were buried by their relatives. Over a hundred injured were also brought here,” he said.
In fact, the intense heat generated by the blast meant bodies were so intensely burned it will make a definitive death toll almost impossible to establish because so many remains would go unfound.
More than 2000 people protested the day after the attack, demanding the government to do more to protect the citizens who have faced relentless attacks at the hands of terror group Al Shabab.
We had extensive coverage of the terror attacks that plagued England and France just a few months ago, let’s not ignore this one.
