A series of bomb explosions has hit Soweto township, in South Africa, killing at least one person. Another was badly injured.

Police say nine bombs exploded and one more has been defused.

It felt like an earthquake

Soweto resident Sonia Dlamini

The blasts began at about midnight, rocking parts of the sprawling township one after the other.

Several of the explosions targeted railway lines linking Soweto to Johannesburg.

Some train services have been suspended, leaving busy commuter routes in chaos.

Another explosion ripped through a mosque, tearing apart one of its walls.

On Wednesday morning, police announced a further blast had occurred at a temple in Bronkhorstpruit, a town east of the capital, Pretoria. It is unclear if the blast is linked to the Soweto explosions.

Twenty-seven year old Promise Ndlovu, who was asleep with her daughter, Buhle, in their house near the mosque in Soweto, told the BBC's Milton Nkosi that the blast smashed the windows on her house.

"I looked into my three-year-old daughter's eyes and I thought we were going to die."

Sonia Dlamini, a 29-year-old, who lives with her parents nearby said: "It felt like an earthquake."

Speculation

Police have been out in full force searching for other explosive devices.

About two million people live in sprawling Soweto

The bomb disposal squad has defused at least one device at a garage.

No group has said it carried out the attacks, but the BBC's Hilary Andersson in Johannesburg says South African media are speculating that far right-wing organisations could be responsible.

Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi is reported as saying that two white men were seen acting suspiciously in Soweto shortly before the explosions. He said they suspected a major right-wing organisation of being behind them.

Police said the limited damage showed the explosive charges were relatively small.

A BBC reporter says the attacks were well co-ordinated by people who probably had military training.

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula condemned the attacks when he arrived in Soweto.

"We appeal to our people to remain calm and not to panic," he said.

Along with other ministers he has now gone to visit the injured man in hospital.

Soweto Police Superintendent Richard Luvhengo said it was the first such incident in memory in South Africa's biggest township,

In 1976, Soweto became an international symbol of the struggle against apartheid when dozens of black school children who refused to be taught in Afrikaans, were shot by the police.