Turkey to evacuate injured after deadly Mogadishu blast

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A Turkish military cargo plane landed in the Somali capital on Sunday to evacuate people badly wounded in a bombing in the city on Saturday that killed at least 90 people, including two Turkish nationals.

The plane also brought emergency medical staff and supplies, according to a tweet from the Turkish embassy, adding these had been transferred to a Turkish-run hospital in Mogadishu.

Somali Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye told state media that 10 badly injured Somalis would be evacuated to Turkey.

He added that Turkey had sent 24 doctors to treat those wounded who would not be evacuated.

Saturday's blast, at a busy checkpoint during rush hour in Mogadishu, was the deadliest in war-torn Somalia in more than two years.

No-one immediately claimed responsibility, although the city's mayor blamed al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab.

The dead included many students from a university in the city, authorities said.

(REUTERS)