Aftermath of Nigeria bomb blast in Abuja

In the second ever major attack on Abuja, the Al-Qaeda-inspired terror group Boko Haram detonated a car bomb at a bus stop during rush hour

Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamists brought their long-running terror campaign to the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital yesterday with a massive bomb at a bus station that killed at least 71 people.

Explosives were hidden in a vehicle and detonated at the peak of the Monday morning rush hour, when thousands of commuters were queuing to board buses at Nyanya, nine miles south of Abuja city centre.

Dozens were killed in the initial blast, and then more died as fuel tanks in waiting vehicles ignited, triggering several secondary explosions and sending a plume of thick black smoke hundreds of feet into the air.

By nightfall at least 71 people were confirmed dead and 124 were being treated in hospital. Many were badly burnt and the death toll was likely to rise.

Charity Enang was inside a bus waiting to pull out of its bay when the explosion happened. “All we heard was “boom” and I saw people’s flesh flying out of the window of the bus,” she said.