At least 90 people are reported dead and 125 more wounded after a massive car bomb was detonated at a busy intersection in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday.

The apparent suicide attack happened during rush hour traffic at about 8am, according to early reports, and authorities are cautioning that the death toll is expected to rise as area hospitals continue to fill.

The scene of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia. Image source: Reuters

Among the dead are 17 Somali police officers, CNN reports, while most have been described as university students on their way to classes.

It's the deadliest attack in Mogadishu since the 2017 twin truck bombings that killed more than 500 people and leveled a hotel.

Though initial reports put the death toll at 78 or more, Reuters has cited local sources who say it's actually more than 90 killed.

Rescuers carried bodies past the twisted wreckage of a vehicle and a minibus taxi smeared with blood. A report by the international organization, which did not want to be named, said the death toll was more than 90. A Somali MP also tweeted that he had been told the death toll stands at more than 90, including 17 police officers. — Reuters

Specifically Saturday's car bomb went off on a busy street outside a tax collection center. The truck reportedly barreled into a security checkpoint manned by over a dozen police, killing scores of both civilians and security forces.

Suicide-bomber driving a car laden with explosives detonates at #Mogadishu’s Ex-control Afgoye. Casualties of this horrific blast is yet to clarify. #Somalia. pic.twitter.com/BaHeG44zV2 — Bashiir Maxmud (@BashiirMaxmud) December 28, 2019

Details are as yet uncertain, but local eyewitness say gunfire erupted just before or after the blast. "Dozens of injured people were screaming for help but the police immediately opened fire and I rushed back to my house," 55-year-old Sabdow Ali told Reuters.

No group initially claimed responsibility for the deadly attack; however, likely authorities are eyeing Al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab, which has carried out similar attacks in the recent past.

More than 30 school and university students who have been traveling on the road at the time of the blast are among those killed and injured in the truck bombing on the outskirts of Mogadishu. Most of the victims were civilians. pic.twitter.com/1Roga55LGz — Somalia Live Update (@HassanIstiila) December 28, 2019

As recently as last week al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a car bombing which killed eight in central Somalia.