Fifteen children who were travelling back home from school were among the dead in the Saturday terror attack in Mogadishu, which the government has estimated to be 276.
Emergency ambulance services provider Aamin Ambulance director Abdulkadir Aden told Xinhua all the primary school children in the bus died.
Aden said: “There were 15 primary school children who were from school when the explosion happened. We can confirm all of them died.”
Meanwhile, 40 people who were critically injured in the Saturday bombing in Mogadishu were Monday morning airlifted to Turkey for further treatment.
Deputy Prime Minister, Mahdi Mohamed Guled, thanked the Turkish government for its support.
The government has confirmed that the death toll rose to 276 by Sunday while more than 300 others are still in hospital.
Meanwhile, families are still trying to locate their missing loved ones.
NAN reports that the African Union Mission in Somalia said its security officers are helping the government in search and rescue operation to ensure those still trapped in the rubble are rescued following Saturday’s bomb attack in Mogadishu.
AMISOM contingent commander, Brig. Muhanga Kayanja, who visited the scene of the Saturday attack which has so far claimed some 276 lives also condemned the attack, terming it a cowardly act.
“We have been informed that some people are still trapped in the rubble and they have been calling but their phone batteries have died, however, all efforts are in place to make sure that we rescue survivors from the rubble,” he said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
A vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device, suspected to have been deployed by Al-Shabaab detonated at a busy junction in the central business district, on Saturday, killing innocent civilians and destroying property worth millions of dollars.
Later in the day, a second bombing was reported in the city’s Madina district.
The blast destroyed buildings and set vehicles ablaze, in one of the worst such attack to date in the capital, which has suffered nearly three decades of violence.
No group including Al-Shabaab terror group which usually carries out such attacks, has claimed responsibility for the latest attack which has been condemned by the international community.
Kayanja, who assessed the damage and identified areas of support ahead of a massive cleanup operation, said Somalis with the support of AMISOM will triumph over terrorism.
He added: “This is an act of cowardice by the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, and it is intended to coerce the civilian population into fearing and support.”