Kaduna, Nigeria ? The Miss World pageant was canceled in Nigeria after about 100 people died in rioting triggered by the contest and a newspaper’s reference to the prophet Muhammad. Organizers today moved the event to London.

The decision followed a third day of battles Friday between Muslims and Christians, leaving mosques and churches smoldering and charred bodies lying in the dusty streets.

Officials said Miss World was moving to London “in the overall interests of Nigeria and the contestants.” The brief statement released shortly after midnight in the capital, Abuja, did not elaborate further on reasons for the change. It was signed by Guy Murray-Bruce, the pageant’s top official in Nigeria.

The London show was set for Dec. 7, the same day it had been planned for Nigeria.

No government officials were immediately available for comment.

The bloodshed was worst in the northern city of Kaduna, where it started Wednesday, but on Friday it spread to Abuja, where the beauty contest was to be staged.

People flee with their belongings from a riot-affected area in Kaduna, Nigeria. Christian youths retaliated against Muslims Friday in this northern city in the third day of riots triggered by a newspaper article about the Miss World pageant. Red Cross officials said about 100 people had died and 500 were seriously injured in the violence.

Red Cross officials said about 100 people had been killed and 500 injured in three days.

Fueling the clashes are long-standing hostilities between the various tribes of Muslims and Christians in Africa’s most populous nation, where rioting and fighting between the groups are commonplace. Previous riots in Kaduna have escalated into religious battles that have killed hundreds since civilian government replaced military rule in 1999.

Islamic groups have complained for months that the beauty pageant promoted promiscuity.

Things worsened after ThisDay newspaper in Kaduna published an article Nov. 16 suggesting that Islam’s prophet would have approved of the pageant.