Mogadishu bomb victims airlifted to Turkey
A Somali policeman walks past a body lying on the ground following a suicide attack in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the deadliest single bombing by Islamist militants since their insurgency began.
Dozens of those most severely hurt in Tuesday's suicide attack in the Somali capital of Mogadishu are being flown to Turkey for treatment.
The news comes amid reports that Mogadishu's main hospital is struggling to cope with the wounded.
The BBC reported that 37 patients were taken to Mogadishu airport on Thursday morning, “but one person died before the flight took off.”
It reported that patients on board included teenagers who had been at the education ministry to see if they had won scholarships to study in Turkey.
Somalia's Justice Minister Ahmed Bile said the most of those on the flight were suffering from severe burns.
(Read more on GlobalPost: Inside Somalia: Al Shabaab, ally of Al Qaeda)
After visiting Mogadishu hospital on Wednesday, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed announced that a $100,000 fund would be established to treat the victims and assist the families of those who were killed.
Both the United States and United Nations condemned Tuesday's car-bomb attack on a government compound, which killed over 70 people.
The Islamist al-Shabaab group has claimed responsibility.
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