THE massive blast when a petrol tanker exploded in a fireball after colliding with a bus in the centre of Baghdad yesterday, killing 17 Iraqis, was an accident, said US military investigators.

The massive blast when a petrol tanker exploded in a fireball after colliding with a bus in the centre of Baghdad today, killing 17 Iraqis, was an accident, said US military investigators.

A petrol tanker loaded with explosives rammed into a small bus and exploded near a police station in Baghdad today, killing up to 17 people, police said.

Police and US troops seized weapons during raids in Baghdad and in northern Iraq, US and Iraqi officials said today.