At least 118 people have died in two car bomb explosions in the Nigerian city of Jos.

Dozens have been injured in the blasts, which took place just half an hour apart in a busy business district.

The second killed some of the rescue workers who had rushed to the scene of the first explosion.

Nigerian President Goodluck Johnathan has condemned the attack, which police claim bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram insurgents.

Jos lies in the heart of Nigeria where the Christian south meets the Muslim north. Until now it has been relatively free of militant violence.

Boko Haram are currently the focus of internationally-aided efforts to locate 200 or more kidnapped schoolgirls.

Western and West African leaders have agreed to deploy five battalions of troops to help fight the Islamist rebel group.

But relatives of those captured have accused the government of responding too slowly.

President Johnathan recently rejected a Boko Haram deal that would allegedly see the girls released in exchange for all imprisoned militants.