8 dead in huge Mogadishu car bomb explosion

The explosion that went off on a street in the Somali capital Mogadishu earlier on Wednesday was from a car bomb and it killed at least eight people, the head of the city's ambulance services said.

"A car bomb targeted a convoy, including bullet proof cars using Avisione street, we do not who owns the convoy. We carried eight dead people from the scene," Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance service told Reuters.

The explosion damaged four cars and two motor rickshaws. A paramedic was attending to at least one injured person.

Ahmed Nur, a shopkeeper nearby, said he had seen at least five bodies.

"I see five dead people wrapped in paper bags and covered with iron sheets, legs visible and then being transported in an ambulance," he told Reuters.

• Africa