By Zehra Aydin
ANKARA
Health Minister Ahmet Demircan on Tuesday visited some of the dozens of people airlifted from Somalia for medical treatment in Turkey following the weekend’s huge bomb attack.
Thirty-five of those wounded in the truck bombing in the center of Mogadishu on Saturday afternoon are being treated in hospitals in Ankara.
The injured, including three children, were flown to Turkey with 35 relatives on Monday for treatment at Polatli, Numune and Gulhane hospitals around the capital.
Demircan told reporters at hospital that the victims were receiving the “necessary treatment”.
Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital has a reputation as one of Turkey’s best medical facilities.
“Turkey carried out a humanitarian duty and offered the necessary treatment,” Demircan, who to Mogadishu after the attack, said.
He said around 300 people had been killed in Saturday’s blast and a similar number injured. The death toll is likely to rise in what has been described as war-torn Somalia’s worst terror attack.
The truck bomb containing hundreds of kilograms of explosives and also ignited a fuel tanker, turning a busy road junction into a scorched wasteland.
Turkish Red Crescent gives aid to Somalia blast victims
Many bodies were burned beyond recognition, according to local medical staff.
Although there has been no claim of responsibility, the Somali government has blamed al-Shabaab terrorists.
Following the attack, more than 200 people were treated in the Turkish-Somali-run Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu.
Turkey was the first country to respond, sending 33 health officials, including a medical team specializing in emergency treatment.
The Turkish Red Crescent also sent three emergency health workers while the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority dispatched a 10-strong search and rescue team.
The government and the Red Crescent also delivered aid, including medical supplies, blankets and tents.
