Two car bombs have exploded in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, killing at least 16 people, officials say.
Several others were seriously injured in the attack and have been taken to hospital.The death toll could be higher, with one official, Abubakar Zakari Adamu, telling the AP news agency 38 had died.
The blasts, which caused extensive damage, happened near restaurants, a hotel and two churches.
The area has been the scene of a religious conflict in recent years that has claimed hundreds of lives.
There had been warnings of attacks in the region over Easter.
Many of the dead are thought to be motorcycle taxi drivers and beggars.
Witnesses say debris was thrown dozens of metres from the centre of the blast.
Kaduna can be found on the dividing line between Nigeria's largely Christian south and Muslim north.
No one has yet admitted carrying out the bombing, but the BBC's correspondent in Nigeria, Mark Lobel, says the radical Islamist group Boko Haram recently said it would carry out attacks in the area over the Easter holiday.
Local Christian groups have speculated that the bombers were targeting a nearby church, but that heavy security meant they detonated their explosives in a nearby area instead.
Britain's Africa Minister Henry Bellingham called the attack a "horrific act".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
