Nigeria religious riot bodies found in village wells

More victims of deadly religious clashes in central Nigeria have been found, with scores of bodies stuffed in wells and sewage pits.

Up to 150 bodies have been found in Kuru Karama village, 30km (18 miles) from the city of Jos, where the violence erupted last Sunday. Correspondents say elders hid in holes for seven hours to escape the violence. An exact death toll is not known but overall up to 300 are thought to have died in the Muslim-Christian clashes. Several thousand people fled their homes.

'Burned alive'

Correspondent says many of the bodies found in Kuru Karama had massive burns, other victims were hacked to death or shot. She says there are still more bodies scattered in the bush beyond the village but the areas are not safe for volunteer workers to enter. Umar Baza, head of Kuru Karama village, told news agency: "So far we have picked 150 bodies from the wells. But 60 more people are still missing." The Human Rights Watch group said armed men had attacked the mostly Muslim Kuru Karama on 19 January.

"After surrounding the town, they hunted down and attacked Muslim residents, some of whom had sought refuge in homes and a local mosque, killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive," it said in a statement. It quoted one villager as saying: "I came back on Wednesday evening escorted by the military. I saw dead bodies everywhere. The corpses were there, but now you can just see the blood on the ground. None of the houses are standing." The group called on Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to order an immediate criminal investigation into reports of the massacre.

Mr Jonathan deployed the military after four days of clashes. He has been issuing orders while President Umaru Yar'Adua receives medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. The security forces have now restored order and a curfew has been partially lifted. But correspondents say the atmosphere is still tense. Jos, the capital of Plateau state, lies at the point where Nigeria's Muslim north and predominantly Christian south meet.