Thursday, May 1, 2014

Another Deadly Bomb Blast in Abuja

A blast on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja killed several people on Thursday, witnesses and hospital sources have said.

The car bomb hit the suburb of Nyanya close to the site of a morning rush hour bomb attack at a bus station on April 14 that killed at least 75 people.

A correspondent from the AFP news agency reported seeing nine bodies that had been brought from scene of the attack, while a witness at the same hospital who requested anonymity reportedly confirmed that seven other corpses had arrived.

A hospital worker said he counted at least nine bodies ferried by ambulance to Asokoro General Hospital, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Deafening explosion

"There was a loud blast then a ball of fire," witness Lateef Adebayo told Reuters news agency by telephone. "There were many dead bodies and ambulances were rushing there."

Another witness, Joe Udofia, said there was a "deafening explosion, then the area near Nyanya Bridge was on fire. There were many people in the vicinity," he added.

Religiously conservative armed group Boko Haram, which is waging an insurgency against the government to carve out an Islamic administration in Africa's largest oil producer country, claimed responsibility for the April 14 blast in Nyanya and threatened further attacks.

The blast came a week before Abuja was due to host the World Economic Forum on Africa, an annual gathering which brings together international leaders, policy makers and entrepreneurs.

Nigeria's government had announced a big security operation to protect the capital during the forum. 

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