LAGOS, Nigeria
At least 44 people were killed on Sunday night when twin explosions tore through a mosque and a restaurant in Jos, provincial capital of Nigeria's north-central Plateau State, according to a local official.
"Forty-four people were killed and 47 others badly injured, who are now being treated at three local hospitals," Abdulsalam Mohamed, coordinator for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency in Jos, told Anadolu Agency.
He added that the authorities were still searching the area for additional bodies.
The twin blasts occurred at around 8:30pm at a mosque and a restaurant located on Bauchi Road, according to Audu Onoja, a local journalist.
Onoja added that security personnel and relief workers had since cordoned off the site of the blast, which, the journalist said, appeared to have been caused by "explosives planted somewhere in the area."
According to Tahiru Abubakar of the Jos-based Civil Liberties Organization, the explosions occurred as people gathered at the mosque to perform evening prayers.
“That’s why the number of casualties is so high,” he said.
Jos has been rocked by bombings several times in the past, which the authorities have blamed on the Boko Haram militant group.
