Explosion rocks church in Nigerian capital

A bomb that exploded at a church in a satellite town on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja killed at least 19 people, a resident of the area said. "I heard the blast. My house shook.

I came out to the front of the church to see what was happening.

I counted 19 bodies myself, many of them mutilated, and five destroyed vehicles," Tony Akpan told Reuters close to the scene. A bomb exploded in a Catholic church on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja during Christmas prayers on Sunday and emergency services said they did not have enough ambulances available to evacuate all the dead and the wounded.

The precise number of dead and wounded in the blast was not immediately available.  "Yes, I can confirm to you that there has been a bomb blast in a church in Madala (suburb)," National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Yushau Shuaibu said by telephone.

"We are presently there, evacuating the dead and the injured, but unfortunately we don't have enough ambulances. Most of our ambulances have gone to operate on the major highways of the country," he added.    

The blast in St Theresa's Church in Madala, an Abuja suburb blew out windows of at least one house nearby, a witness said.