Palu, Indonesia ? Suspected Islamic militants set off a powerful bomb packed with nails Saturday at a busy market frequented by Christians, killing eight people and wounding 45 as they bought pork for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The blast occurred in Palu on Sulawesi Island, which has been plagued in recent years by religious violence and terrorism by Islamic extremists.

The early morning explosion sent ball bearings and nails tearing into vendors and shoppers, leaving the market scattered with dismembered bodies. Police and passers-by carried bloodied bodies to cars. One man, apparently unhurt, held his head in his hands as he screamed.

“There was a billow of smoke and then a massive bang and my ears were deafened,” said Kartini, a 32-year-old Christian woman who was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds to her chest and feet.

“I was in shock and had to tell myself to move away. I screamed for help,” said Kartini, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

Police said eight people died in the attack. Hospital officials said at least 45 were wounded, with more than 20 suffering serious injuries.

The religious affiliations of the dead were not immediately released. However, the market sold only pig and dog meat, both of which are forbidden under Islam. Few, if any, Muslims would have been in the covered market.

The country’s security minister, Widodo Adisucipto, told reporters the bombing was linked to terrorist groups.

He refused to elaborate, but suspicion fell on Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida-linked group that has been blamed for a series of bloody bombings in Indonesia since 2000.

The police chief for Central Sulawesi province, Brig Gen. Oegroseno, said late Saturday that investigators believed a local resident detained two hours after the attack “may be declared as a suspect.” He refused to release any other information about that person.