At least 21 people have been killed in a bomb blast in northern Nigeria as they were watching a World Cup match, a hospital source has told media.
Witnesses in Damaturu, in Yobe state, say a suicide bomber in a tricycle taxi detonated explosives as people watched Brazil’s match against Mexico on TV.
At least 27 people are said to have been seriously injured.
Public screenings of the World Cup in some parts of Nigeria have been banned because of threats by Boko Haram.
Three states, including Yobe, are under a government-imposed state of emergency following years of attacks.
No group has said it was behind the latest blast.
The local police chief said it was not a viewing centre where Nigerians often watch football matches, as these have been banned in the state.
Other sources say it was a viewing centre which was attacked.
While the police say 13 people died, the hospital worker told media he had personally counted 21 bodies.
Correspondents say Nigeria’s authorities often downplay the number of casualties.
In another development, the authorities say a senior Boko Haram militant was among almost 500 northerners arrested as they travelled to Nigeria’s oil hub of Port Harcourt earlier this week.
The authorities did not name the suspect. Relatives of those arrested say they had no links to Boko Haram and had gone to southern Nigeria for economic reasons.
The Damaturu hospital worker said truckloads of injured people were being treated in overcrowded wards after the explosion on Tuesday evening.
“The military and police trucks that brought them in have made four return trips so far ferrying them in,” the worker said.
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