Residents in north-west of the country say many victims of strike during Muslim festival were women and children

A Nigerian army drone strike accidentally killed at least 85 civilians observing a Muslim festival in the north-west on Sunday, the country’s armed forces have admitted.

Villagers in Tudun Biri in the state of Kaduna had gathered for the Maulud celebration when at about 9pm they heard what sounded like an aeroplane followed by a huge explosion.

“We couldn’t even run,” Danjuma Salisu, a survivor, said from his hospital bed, where he was being treated for hand and leg injuries.

According to local reports, villagers fled the area, fearing further strikes. Army officials and representatives from the Kaduna state government have met village elders, promising that those affected would be compensated.

The army said it had been carrying out “a routine mission against terrorists but inadvertently affected members of the community”. It did not give casualty figures or explain how the accident had happened but local residents said 85 people, many of them women and children, had been killed.

Idris Dahiru, a villager, said: “I was inside the house when the first bomb was dropped … We rushed to the scene to help those affected and then a second bomb was dropped.

“My aunt, my brother’s wife and her six children, wives of my four brothers were among the dead. My elder brother’s family are all dead, except his infant child who survived. We buried 85 people that were killed in the bomb attack.”

Dahiru said more than 60 injured people were in hospital.

Another resident, Husseini Ibrahim, told Agence France-Presse (AFP): “I lost 13 members of my immediate family among the 85 that were killed. They included my children and those of my brothers, seven boys and six girls. We buried the victims today.”

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