At least 25 killed in Nigeria violence

The casualty toll from four days of religious riots between Muslims and Christians in the northern city of Kaduna has more than doubled to 215 killed, a senior Red Cross official said today.

The fighting was touched off by a newspaper article about the Miss World pageant.

Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the Nigerian Red Cross, said the relief organization had by late Saturday night counted 215 bodies on the streets and in mortuaries throughout the city.

An unknown number of others killed were believed to have been buried individually by family members, he added.

The sectarian fighting, which began on Wednesday and continued until late on Saturday, forced the Miss World pageant to move its operations to London, England.

By Sunday morning, a tense calm was reported in Kaduna.