Ten killed, 70 injured in twin blasts targeting public places
Section of the Gikomba market in Nairobi. Yesterday the market was the target of terror attacks that killed 10 people and injured scores others. Photo | simbadeo.wordpress.com
What you need to know:
- Earlier this month three people were killed and over 80 wounded in twin bus blasts in Nairobi. The attacks were blamed on al-Shabaab Islamists which is linked with Al-Qaeda...
Nairobi. Eight people have been killed and over 70 wounded in two explosions in a busy market area in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, a hospital official said Friday.
A spokesman at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi’s main hospital, said eight bodies had brought in and “more than 70” people admitted for treatment, many of them in a serious condition.
“Many of the injured are bleeding profusely. We need a lot of blood,” the spokesman, Simon Ithae, told AFP.
According to the National Disaster Operation Centre the first blast occurred on a 14-seater matatu, or public minibus, and the second was inside Gikomba Market, situated to the east of Nairobi’s central business district.
The Kenyan Red Cross said five of its ambulances were evacuating casualties from the scene of the blasts.
The apparent bombings come amid a wave of attacks in both Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa, and come days after several countries issued new warnings about travelling in Kenya.
On Thursday and Friday, hundreds of British tourists were being evacuated from beach resorts near Mombasa because of the travel warnings.
Earlier this month three people were killed and 86 wounded in twin bus blasts in Nairobi that were blamed on Islamic militant cells linked to Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels.
Kenya has been targeted by the al-Sabaab since sending troops to war-torn Somalia in 2011. (AFP)
