http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0, ... 34,00.html
800 dead' in Baghdad bridge disaster
Staff and agencies
Wednesday August 31, 2005
Casualties are driven to hospital after a stampede on a bridge in Baghdad in which more than 600 people were reported dead. Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
Casualties are driven to hospital after a stampede on a bridge in Baghdad in which more than 600 people were reported dead. Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
More than 800 people were killed and over 320 injured after Shia pilgrims panicked amid reports that a suicide bomber was in their midst in Baghdad today.
The Iraqi defence minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, said 841 people had died and 328 were injured in a stampede on a bridge over the Tigris river.
Mr Dulaimi said the disaster had been sparked when someone heard "a certain scream" that there was a suicide bomber on the bridge. "It caused chaos in the crowd, and the crowd reacted and caused this incident to take place," he said.
However, he ruled out speculation that the tragedy had been deliberately engineered by rival religious groups.
"What happened today has nothing to do with any sectarian sensitivities. Only the seven that were killed this morning were killed by terrorists," he added, referring to seven people who had died in a mortar attack before the stampede.
Police said the disaster happened when the bridge was packed with Shia worshippers during a religious procession.
A police spokesman said some people were killed in the crush, while others fell into the river and drowned when a railing on the bridge collapsed.
Most of those who died are believed to have been women and children, the interior ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.
Dr Jaseb Latif Ali, a general manager for Iraq's health ministry, told Reuters the death toll was expected to reach 1,000.
Iraqi state television reported that the prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, had declared three days of mourning for the victims.
Thousands of people had been making their way towards the Kadhimiya mosque - an important Shia shrine in the north of Baghdad - to celebrate the martyrdom of Mousa al-Kadim, a revered religious figure among Shia Muslims.
One hospital source said it had received at least 100 bodies and 255 injured people by 0930 BST. The source said bodies were also being sent to two other nearby hospitals.
"We have lost count - we have hundreds and hundreds of dead and injured," a health ministry official told Reuters.
Several mortar attacks on the shrine were also reported, with at least seven people being killed and 35 injured.
Television reports said around 1 million pilgrims from many parts of Baghdad and outlying provinces had gathered near the Kadhimiya mosque.
Tensions among Iraq's religious and political parties have been running high over the issue of the new constitution.
A referendum is due to be held on the constitution on October 15, and tomorrow is believed to be the last day on which Iraqis can register to vote.
The Sunnis are angry at what they see as the ruling Shia and Kurdish coalition forcing through a draft constitution alienating their hopes for a new Iraq.
