After Saturday's truck bombing at a busy junction that killed at least 281 people in the capital, Mogadishu, Somalia is appealing for blood to treat those wounded in the deadliest terror attack in 10 years.
After Saturday's truck bombing at a busy junction that killed at least 281 people in the capital, Mogadishu, Somalia is appealing for blood to treat those wounded in the deadliest terror attack in 10 years.
Information Minister Abdirahman Osman said the death toll was likely to rise, and more help was needed as more bodies are trapped under rubble.
165 unidentified bodies were buried by the authorities due to being burnt beyond recognition and there were no means of identifying their bodies.
Osman blamed the Islamist al-Shabab group, which is allied to al-Qaeda, for the attack.
Two planes of medical aid from the US and Qatar have landed in the capital, while Turkey and Djibouti sent humanitarian assistance on Monday. A Turkish military plane is said to have taken 40 of the injured to Turkey for medical treatment.
Kenya, who neighbors the country, also plans to airlift some of the victims for further treatment.
Hundreds of people have currently been donating blood in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
In Eastleigh, also known as Nairobi's "Little Mogadishu, young and old residents alike have been lining up to give blood since morning.
To many Somalis living in the neighborhood, the tragedy seems all too familiar for those that fled their home country during the conflict.
A woman named Konsar Mohamed,20, who lost her friend in the attack, says she is donating blood because it is the biggest gift she can give to her people.
Somalia does not have a blood bank, which was hampering some of the aid efforts, but Osman thanked the hundreds of Mogadishu residents who had already donated blood.
