Bomb blast hits Nigeria refugee camp

The explosion happened at about 11 a.m. local time (1000 UTC) at a camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of the Adamawa state capital Yola.

"So far seven persons lost their lives and 20 persons were injured in the bomb blast that occurred in Malkohi Internally Displaced Persons camp," said Sani Datti, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

"Among the injured, seven were treated and discharged while 13 persons including four NEMA officials are still receiving treatment," he added.

The explosion was caused by a device that was left by tents in the camp, which lies just outside the city in the hamlet of Malkohi. The Adamawa state governor, Jibrilla Bindow, was reported as telling a meeting of local politicians that children were among the dead.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Lionel Rawlings, head of security at the Yola-based American University of Nigeria, told AFP that student volunteers were injured by flying debris. "None was in direct contact with the explosion but there was flying shrapnel. We dodged a bullet," he said.

Security had been tightened around the camp after hundreds of women and children were taken there after being held hostage by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram earlier this year. The refugees were brought to the camp after being rescued by the Nigerian military.

As a relative safe haven from the violence, Yola has more than doubled in population size since the beginning of last year to some 400,000 people.

rc/kms (AFP, Reuters)