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“We as journalists rushed to the scene of the blast immediately after the first explosion. It’s the second blast that caught us by surprise.
There were concerns that the vehicle was laden with explosives. But before the bomb experts arrived, it went off, injuring me and 10 other media workers,” said Farah Abdi Warsameh, a journalist from the Associated Press.
Security Minister Abdirizak Omar Mohamed said that security officers had ended the siege and shot dead all the attackers.
Two prominent Somali elders were among those killed in the attack. The injured have been taken to the hospital.
“We are trying our best to deal with the serious cases. We have attended to more than 30 cases, but we have received three patients who are currently in critical condition,” said Mohamed Yusuf, director-general of the Madina Hospital.
Witnesses and medical sources said they expected the death toll to rise. Some newly elected members of parliament were inside the hotel at the time of the attack, but the security minister said they were safe.
Located near the federal parliament building, the Dayah hotel is frequented by government officials and lawmakers.
Somalia’s homegrown al-Shabab group claimed responsibility for the attack, which came at a time when the country is preparing to hold an election for lawmakers to choose a new president.
Al-Shabab has been battling the Somali government for a decade. It has been driven out of major towns by African Union forces in the past years, but still frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners in the country.