BREAKING NEWS: Potiskum Latest; Death toll hits 55

The death toll in an attack on a cattle market in Nigeria's Northeastern city of Potiskum, Yobe State by gunmen armed with explosives has hit 55, emergency officials said on Thursday.

Earlier, an official confirmed that “Thirty-four bodies were deposited at the hospital,” the official said on condition of anonymity of the attack late Wednesday in Potiskum because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

He said the toll was likely to be more than 50 dead because families were also burying relatives' bodies without bringing them to the hospital.

An Emergency official who spoke to the media said the latest count of those carted away from the scenes of the incident was put at 55.

A gang of gunmen with explosives have attacked a cattle market in the city of Potiskum, burning it down and leaving a number of people dead, residents and police said Thursday.

The attack late Wednesday was said to be in reprisal for an incident earlier in the day, when the gang sought to rob the market but were fought off by traders who caught one of the attackers, a police source said.