Bomb Attack In Abuja Kills Scores,

A bomb attack on a busy shopping district in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, earlier today killed at least 21 people and injured 52 more.

The blast, near the popular Banex plaza shopping complex in Wuse district, could be heard from miles away and sent plumes of smoke into the air.

Police say a suspect has been arrested. No group has claimed responsibility.

Mustapha Mohammed, BBC Hausa Service, Abuja reports he counted 12 bodies of men and women at the mortuary at the Maimata District Hospital, which is a few kilometres from the site of the blast.

Doctors and nurses were treating dozens of wounded - many of them for burns on their faces, hands and legs. The security forces were trying to keep order as relatives and friends rushed to the hospital to find out about the fate of their loved ones.

The area was packed with shoppers at the time of the blast, the BBC's Hausa service editor Mansur Liman reports.

Many cars outside the shopping complex were burnt out and many windows were shattered, he adds.

One man told the BBC his driver was killed in the blast: "I was in the complex when I saw that the ground was shaking. I saw my driver dead and a lot of casualties."

Government spokesman Mike Omeri confirmed that the blast was the result of a bomb attack.