Nigeria: “They started shooting randomly at worshippers” – Muhammad Bello was near the mosque when the explosions began.
Dozens have been killed in a gun and bomb attack during prayers at one of the biggest mosques in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, officials say.
Many more people have been hurt, with one rescue official putting casualty figures at almost 400.
The Central Mosque is where the influential Muslim leader, the Emir of Kano, usually leads prayers.
The emir recently called for people to arm themselves against Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
No group said it had carried out the attack, but the assumption is that Boko Haram was behind it.
The group has been waging an insurgency in Nigeria since 2009 and has killed more than 2,000 people this year, rights groups say.
As BBC’s Tomi Oladipo reports, the gunmen opened fire on people as they tried to escape
President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack, calling on all Nigerians “to remain united to confront the common enemy”.
He said the government would “continue to take every step to put an end to the reprehensible acts of all groups and persons involved in acts of terrorism”.
‘Helter-skelter’
Nigerian police said 35 people were killed in the attack, but some eyewitnesses said far more people lost their lives.
The rescue official, speaking to Agence France-Presse, put the casualty toll at 120 dead and 270 hurt, although this has not been independently confirmed.
Three bomb explosions were reported in and around the mosque. The attackers also turned gunfire on worshippers.
Some reports say the first bomb was hidden in a car which was driven straight into the worshippers.
One eyewitness told the BBC’s Focus on Africa: “The imam was about to start prayer when he saw somebody in a car trying to force himself into the mosque. But when people stopped him, he detonated the explosions. People started running helter-skelter.”
There was pandemonium as people ran for their lives.
But then several men then opened fire on the crowd killing more people. Three of the gunmen were caught, and – as the terror turned to rage – they were killed on the spot, the BBC’s Will Ross in Abuja reports.
BBC Hausa editor Mansur Liman said one witness at a local hospital had described the scenes there as being the most horrible he had ever seen.
