Bomb at Abuja shopping Mall kills at least 21,

A day that should have been one of World Cup celebration in Nigeria turned into one of national mourning when a bomb ripped through a bustling shopping district in the country’s capital, killing at least 21 people.

The explosion in the heart of Abuja happened as soccer fans were preparing to watch the Nigerian national team take on Argentina in Brazil.
“We heard a really loud noise and the building shook, and people started screaming and running out,” witness Chiamaka Oham said.

“We saw the smoke and people covered in blood,” Oham said. “It was just chaos.”

The deadly blast was set off at 4 p.m. in Abuja, about an hour before the kickoff of Nigeria’s World Cup match. The explosion outside the Emab Plaza mall left cars smoldering, shattered numerous windows and sent up a plume of smoke that blackened the sky.

Before the attack, soccer fans had been in a festive mood as the Nigerian team had already clinched a spot in the next round of the international tourney.

 

Fans were beginning to gather around TVs in shops in the popular Wuse district waiting for the match to start when saboteurs struck.

Following the explosion, journalists on scene reported seeing body parts strewn throughout the streets of the business district, suggesting a car bomb was used in the attack.

Abuja police spokesman Frank Mba confirmed that 21 people were dead and 17 injured.

“Our most important assignment now is to secure lives, secure the crime scene and actually carry out preliminary investigations,” Mba said.

Shuaibu Baba said he narrowly escape being harmed in Wednesday’s blast, which sent black smoke billowing into the evening air.

“I was in the complex when I saw the ground was shaking,” Baba told reporters.

He said he ran out of the shopping center and horror show.