More than 500 people were killed in a huge truck blast in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu, officials have ruled.

The final toll from the October bombing is now at 512, making it the deadliest attack ever to hit the country and one of the worst worldwide within recent decades.

Some Somalis have described the attack as their '9/11'.

The official death toll - published in an official report into the disaster obtained by AP - is a huge leap upwards from the previous official estimate of around 350 killed.

Another 312 people were wounded in the Mogadishu bombing and 62 people remain missing.

Somalia's government has blamed the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab terrorist group for the October 14 attack, which struck a crowded street.

Security officials said the bomb weighed between 600 kilograms and 800 kilograms (1,300 pounds and 1,700 pounds) as the extremist group's bomb-making capabilities grow.