A truck bomb exploded at a busy security checkpoint in Somalia's capital Saturday morning, killing at least 73 people, authorities said.
People were rushed to hospitals, after what was one of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu recently. The toll could rise, said government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar.
Dr Mohamed Yusuf, director of Madina hospital, said they had received 73 bodies. Images from the scene showed the mangled frames of vehicles and bodies lying on the ground. At a hospital, families and friends picked through dozens of bodies.
No immediate claim was made of responsibility for the blast.
The al-Shabab group, that is linked to al-Qaida, often carries out such attacks. This time, the group hasn't claimed credit for the blast as analysts feel that its strategy of trying to sway public opinion by exposing government weakness had badly backfired.
Last time Mogadishu witnessed such an attack, was when a truck bomb in October 2017 killed more than 500 people.