Multiple outlets are reporting an explosion occurred at a World Cup viewing venue in Damaturu, in northeast Nigeria. A source from the General Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital told Reuters that "several pickup trucks" carrying wounded and potential casualties pulled up to the hospital following the explosion. Al Jazeera is reporting that "many" people have been killed.

The northeast region of Nigeria has been plagued by attacks from anti-Western militant group Boko Haram, the same group that abducted more than 200 girls in April. It's unclear whether the group was responsible for this attack.

And although public screenings of soccer are popular in Nigeria, police there have warned against large public gatherings, which have become targets for Islamist militant attacks, including from Boko Haram. From Al Jazeera:

Earlier this month, at least 40 people were killed when a bomb went off after a football match in the town of Mubi in Adamawa. The apparent target was fans trying to leave after the final whistle.

In May, three people were killed in a blast outside a viewing centre showing the European Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in Jos, the capital of Plateau state.

In April, suspected Boko Haram gunmen stormed a packed venue in Potiskum, in northeast Yobe state, shooting dead two people as they watched Champions League quarter-final matches.

Update: The Associated Press is reporting that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber who drove a tricycle taxi filled with explosives into the viewing venue.

[Image via AP]