Explosion hits UN building in Nigeria's capital

Abuja: A large explosion struck the United Nations' main office in Nigeria's capital on Friday, flattening one wing of the building. A UN official in Geneva called it a bomb attack.

"I saw scattered bodies," said Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF worker at the building. "Many people are dead."

He said it felt like "the blast came from the basement and shook the building."

The building houses about 400 employees of the UN in Nigeria, including the majority of its offices.

The building houses about 400 employees of the UN in Nigeria, including the majority of its offices. A local UN spokesman declined to comment.

Alessandra Vellucci, a spokeswoman for the UN office in Geneva, said the global body's offices in Abuja had been bombed.

She told that there was no word yet on casualties.

The building, located in the same neighborhood as the US embassy and other diplomatic posts in Abuja, had a huge hole punched in it.

Local police spokesman Jimoh Moshood confirmed the blast, but said police were still investigating the cause.

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