Sanday Chongo Kabange in Hong Kong
A large explosion has struck a United Nations building in Nigeria's capital of Abuja, with one complete wing of the building levelled by the blast. Media reports and tweets out of Nigeria quoted a U.N. official in Geneva as saying "it's a bomb attack."
The blast whose casualties are yet to be known happened just before 11 a.m. in the same neighbourhood as the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic posts in Nigeria's capital.
Reports say emergency staff is still removing bodies and the wounded from the rubble. Initial reports indicate that many are feared dead.
Police and the wounded thronged the three-story building as people began to search for victims.
Local police spokesman Jimoh Moshood confirmed the blast, but said police were still investigating the cause.
Alessandra Vellucci, a spokeswoman for the U.N. office in Geneva, said the global body's offices in Abuja had been bombed.
She said that there was no word yet on casualties.
Last month, a bomb blast and shooting incident in Norway left over 85 people dead.
