Terror attack claims 237, another 374 injured as families struggle to bury the dead
We were number 81 and the gravediggers were too tired to continue digging the graves
TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN people have been confirmed dead following the massive truck bomb that hit Mogadishu Saturday while 130 of these have been burned beyond recognition. A total of 374 were injured while 235 are admitted in various city hospitals.
Nine hospitals so far visited by Goobjoog News correspondents indicate Medina Hospital recorded the highest casualty figures at 218. Dr. Mohamed Yusuf at Medina Hospital told Goobjoog News 130 of the dead in the hospital could not be identified. “We have recorded 218 deaths and we could not identify 130 of them because they were burned beyond recognition.”
Dr. Yusuf said 71 people were admitted in the facility but two succumbed to their injuries Sunday.
In the nearby Digfer Hospital, 11 deaths were recorded while 90 have been admitted as 60 were treated and discharged. “Out of the those admitted, 12 are in critical condition while 5 others will require treatment abroad since we do not have the capacity to handle those cases in the country,” said Dr. Hussein Mohamud.
Dr. Mohamud said the hospital had expended medicine which could have been used for six months under normal circumstances for these cases alone. All the dead were men aged between 20 and 40 years, Dr. Mohamud added.
Doctors in Somali Sudanese hospital told Goobjoog News they recorded 86 injured-20 of them female. Nine were discharged after treatment, said Dr. Abdinasir Isaac Mohamud.
Five deaths were recorded in Dr. Osman Fiqi hospital while 38 were admitted. Only two remain to undergo treatment after 36 were released, said Dr. Abdiwahab Dahir Alasow. Mogadishu City Hospital on the other hand admitted 12 patients with two of them in severe conditions, said Dr. Suleiman Nageye.
In Daru Shifa Hospital, 42 people were received and 22 admitted while 20 were discharged after receiving treatment. Two deaths were recorded. Among the injured, 7 were children.
A total of 25 people remain admitted in Aden Adde hospital. Four of the injured are women while another 66 are admitted in Shafi hospital. A child succumbed to injuries in Shafi hospital. Another 45 were registered at Kalkal hospital but 25 have been discharged so far. Three others are in a comma.
FAMILIES IN FRANTIC SEARCH
Meanwhile families are still looking for their loved ones with many checking with various hospitals while others are still at the scene of the attack. In Barakat public cemetery in Yakshid district in the outskirts of Mogadishu, families lined up to secure graves for their kin as gravediggers became overwhelmed.
A family member said they had to dig graves for their dead because the grave diggers got exhausted and could not dig anymore. “We were number 81 and the gravediggers were too tired to continue digging the graves. They asked us to do it on our own,” one of the bereaved told Goobjoog News.
“There were more than ten other bodies after us and others on the road,” he added.
Goobjoog News correspondents say some cases were not recorded in hospitals since families picked the bodies from the scene for burial.