BAUCHI, Nigeria — Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up today in a crowded market in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri, killing at least 30 people, according to witnesses and a security official.

The two teenage girls dressed in full hijab entered the busy market and detonated their explosives, said Abba Aji Kalli, the Borno state coordinator of the Civilian Joint Task Force.

The first set off her explosives and killed about three women, said Kalli.

When others gathered around the scene, the second bomber screamed and blew herself up, killing about 30, he said.

“I am right here at the scene and I have before me 11 corpses ... many have been taken away by relatives, while others are taken to the state specialists’ hospital,” said Kalli.

Soldiers and police officers cordoned off the area while rescue workers helped survivors to the hospital.

Nigeria’s Islamic extremist rebel group, Boko Haram, is suspected of the suicide blasts, as they have carried out many similar violent acts in northeastern Nigeria. More than 1,500 have died in militant violence so far this year, according to Amnesty International.