Nigeria blasts target Real Madrid and Barca soccer fans

THREE bomb blasts targeting bars where soccer fans were watching the Real Madrid-Barcelona game rocked the Nigerian city of Jos, officials said Sunday, with one death and 10 injuries reported.

The bombs were said to have been planted near outdoor bars - called ''viewing centers'' in Nigeria - late Saturday in the city, which has been hit by waves of violence between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups in recent years.

''So far, we have evacuated 10 people that sustained various degrees of injuries from the blasts to hospital,'' Red Cross official Manata Bambe said, while declining to comment on the number of deaths.

An official with the Stefanos Foundation, a Christian NGO, said one person was killed.

''There were three blasts, all targeting soccer viewing centers,'' Mark Lipdo said.

''The bombs were detonated outside the viewing centers, which was responsible for the low casualty recorded.''


He said of the 10 people wounded, four were in critical condition, including two who were in a coma.

''One person was killed in the blast,'' he said, adding that the victim had been decapitated by the explosion.

Pam Ayuba, spokesman for the governor of Plateau state, where Jos is the capital, also reported three blasts with one person killed, though he said seven were wounded.

The explosions occurred in predominantly Christian areas of the city.

Violence in recent years in Jos and the surrounding area between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups has killed thousands of people.