Bomb blast kills four footballers in Somalia

Four football players were killed and several others wounded when a bomb blast targeted a bus carrying a local soccer team in Somalia’s port city of Kismayo on Friday.

Omar Hussain, a local police officer in Kismayo, said that it seemed to be a roadside bomb blast, adding further investigation is underway.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Kismayo, he added.

“The players were riding in a bus when the explosion went off, presumably inside the vehicle. There are investigations going on but we presume the device was planted onto the bus,” said police officer Mohamed Sadiq.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed condemned the attack, for which he blamed al-Shabaab terrorists, and offered condolences to the families of the players.

“Somali president expressed his condolences over the deaths of the young players who were killed by al-Shabaab terrorists in Kismayo,” said a presidential statement released to the Somali state television.

Kismayo, the administrative capital of the southern state of Jubaland, is a major port city located 500 kilometres (310 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu.

“The blast was huge and it caused a devastating fire which burned down the bus, people rushed to remove the dead bodies and wounded players,” said witness Ibrahim Ahmed.

Meanwhile, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabaab had owned many recent attacks in the Horn of Africa country.

Another witness identified as Said Adan. said: “I saw the burning bus and three dead bodies of the players — this was horrible because football players are not politicians.”