Blast at bus depot near Nigeria capital, at least 20 dead

A military nurse helps victims of a bomb blast off an ambulance at the Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja on April 14, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A military nurse helps victims of a bomb blast off an ambulance at the Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja on April 14, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A bystander reacts as she sees victims of a bomb blast arriving at the Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja on April 14, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A Red Cross worker runs towards an ambulance carrying victims of a bomb blast at the Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja on April 14, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

ABUJA (REUTERS) - A blast at a bus depot on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja killed at least 20 people during rush hour on Monday morning, witnesses said.

A Reuters camerman saw 20 bodies at the depot at Nyanyan bridge, around 8 km south of Abuja, and two witnesses said another 15 had already been removed by the emergency services.

"I was waiting to get on a bus when I heard a deafening explosion then smoke. People were running around in panic," said Ms Mimi Daniels, who works in Abuja. Another blast followed, she said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion is likely to fall on Islamist militant group Boko Haram. The Islamists have been waging an increasingly bloody insurgency in the north-east.

Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 60 people in an attack on a village in northeast Nigeria late last week. Eight people were killed in a separate attack at a teacher training college, witnesses said.

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