Monday October 31, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somalia's largest companies donated nearly $800,000 to the victims of Saturday's terror attacks in Mogadishu that killed over 104 and wounded 269 others.
Dahabshiil Group, the largest donor, announced that it would contribute $500,000 to be split evenly between injured victims and business owners who lost their livelihoods in the blast.
The blast targeted the Ministry of Education, located on the busy Zoobe junction.
Dahabshiil added that it would waive all transaction fees for people donating money to the emergency relief fund.
The Hormuud Salaam Foundation said it donated $200,000 to the people wounded in the twin explosions.
Beco, the largest electricity supplier in Somalia, announced that it contributed $50,000 towards victims' medical costs.
Local television cable network Astaan TV has pledged to donate $20,000 to the victims.
Mogadishu Mayor Yusuf Hussein Jimale Madale said that 104 people were killed and 269 seriously injured in the twin-car bomb explosions at the Ministry of Education in Mogadishu on Saturday afternoon.
The health ministry said six bodies, burned beyond recognition, have yet to be identified by authorities or claimed by relatives.
After the blast, Abdiaziz Abdi, 22, spent hours searching for his sister who lived close to Zobe, a bustling commercial area with banks, eateries, and pharmacies.
"We found her this morning. She was identified by pieces of her clothing which were barely recognizable," Abdi said. "Her body had been completely charred."
The mayor called on the people missing family members or friends to visit local hospitals to help identify the bodies.
The blast occurred at the same busy intersection where, on October 14, 2017, a suicide bomber driving a truck laden with military-grade explosives levelled several city blocks. The terror attack - which was the deadliest in Somalia's history - killed 512 people and wounded more than 290 others.