Iraq car bomb attack outside police station kills at least 51, hurts 40 UPDATE 28.07.2004 11:26 Headlines
(Updating to change death toll, add detail; background)
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFX) - At least 51 people were killed and 70 wounded when a
suicide bomber blew up a car outside a police station in Baquba, northeast of
Baghdad, Wednesday, police and the interior ministry said.
Interior ministry spokesman Sabah Kahdim said the blast left 30 dead from a
queue of people outside the building and wounded 40.
"In addition, 21 passengers on a bus were killed," he added.
The passenger-laden bus, was gutted by the blast.
A doctor at Baquba hospital earlier put the number of injured as high as 70,
and warned that emergency workers are continuing to collect bodies from the
scene of the explosion.
"A car bomb exploded in front of the rapid reaction unit's building at about
9.30 am (0530 GMT) and there are several people killed and injured", said
Mohammed Jassim, a police officer, as quoted by an Agence France-Presse
correspondent.
The correspondent at the scene said he saw dozens of injured outside the
police post.
"I saw a car overtake a minibus and it slammed right into the queue of
people", said Riad Abdul Latif, an internal affairs officer at the police
station, who was 100 metres away when the bomb went off.
Provincial police chief General Walid Khaled Abdel Salam has confirmed that
a suicide bomber triggered the massive explosion.
"At the time of the explosion, young men were queuing outside to join the
police and a bus passed by", added Jassim.
Following the explosion, police officers reportedly fired into the air as
local residents, seeking news of loved ones, attempted to get to the scene.
Baquba has suffered frequent attacks targeting US-backed Iraqi security
forces, some of which have been claimed by al-Qaeda's suspected chief in Iraq,
Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
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