ABUJA, Nigeria, April 14 (UPI) -- At least 71 people are dead and more than a hundred injured after a car bomb exploded at a crowded bus station on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja.

The explosion took place during the morning rush hour at the Nyanya bus terminal. According to initial reports 16 luxury buses and 24 other vehicles were burnt as the bomb exploded Monday morning, injuring some 124 people. Nine ambulances were seen taking the deceased and inured to local hospitals.


“When the bomb exploded, it caught four large buses filled with passengers and many smaller ones, destroying them completely,” said Yakubu Pam, a bus driver who passed by the area 20 minutes after the blast.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan blamed Boko Haram for carrying out the attack, but there has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Nigerian security forces have been engaged in a four-year battle with Boko Haram, which has been blamed for thousands of deaths since launching an insurgency in 2009.

[Nigerian Tribune] [Bloomberg Businessweek]