Fear grips Nigerian capital after bomb blast kills 21 ahead of World Cup match

Investigators yesterday sifted through the wreckage of a bomb blast which claimed 22 lives in a shopping centre in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, as shoppers spoke of their shock in a city gripped by fear over a campaign of violence by Boko Haram Islamists.

Wednesday's blast shook the crowded downtown Emab Plaza during the afternoon rush as shoppers were buying groceries an hour before the country's soccer team took on Argentina at the World Cup.

Dozens of soldiers and police guarded the scene, with the main road running past the plaza closed off, traders denied access to their shops and the burned-out shells of cars littering the blast zone.

Police and the country's National Information Centre said one suspect had been arrested after the explosion, while another was shot dead by troops as he tried to escape on a motorbike.

The blast, at the entrance to the mall, was powerful enough to blow out windows in buildings on the opposite side of the street.

The area, sandwiched between two other shopping centres and one of the busiest in central Abuja, was littered with the burnt-out hulks of cars and soaked in pools of blood.

Rescue workers could be seen picking through what appeared to be the scorched body parts of victims.