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| Eagles team |
An explosion ripped through a
football viewing centre in Damaturu, northern Nigeria, on Tuesday, residents
said, as fans gathered to watch the World Cup.
The blast at the Crossfire venue, in
the Nayi-Nawa area of the state capital of Yobe, SHOWBIZPLUSng gathered happened at about 8:00 pm
(1900 GMT), just as tournament hosts Brazil kicked off against Mexico.
There were no immediate reports of
deaths but hospitals were reporting casualties being brought in, medical
sources said.
Sanusi Ruf’ai, police commissioner
for Yobe state, told AFP: “There was an explosion outside a soccer viewing
centre here in Damaturu at around 8:15 pm.
“Our men have deployed to the scene
but it’s too early for us to give details.”
One resident said the area had been
cordoned off as police and soldiers were sent to the scene.
The blast comes after at least two
states banned viewing centres on security grounds following previous attacks
blamed on Boko Haram militants, whose five-year insurgency in northern Nigeria
has claimed thousands of lives.
Yobe is one of three northeastern
states that has been under a state of emergency since last May.
The authorities in Adamawa, in
northeast Nigeria, last week closed viewing centres, where large crowds gather
to watch matches on the big screen, while the central state of Plateau followed
suit days later.
Earlier this month, at least 40
people were killed when a bomb went off after a football match in the town of
Mubi in Adamawa. The apparent target was fans trying to leave after the final
whistle.
In May, three people were killed in
a blast outside a viewing centre showing the European Champions League final
between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in Jos, the capital of Plateau state.
In April, suspected Boko Haram
gunmen stormed a packed venue in Potiskum, in northeast Yobe state, shooting
dead two people as they watched Champions League quarter-final matches.
AFP
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