At least nine dead in ammunition dump blast

Unknown attackers fired flares at an American ammunition dump on Baghdad’s outskirts early today, setting off thundering explosions that killed at least nine people, including three babies.

Local residents said one US soldier was injured.

Angry residents fired on US troops trying to treat the injured and recover bodies from the rubble, driving American forces from the area.

Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Coker told Associated Press Television News he saw six bodies recovered and his men were about to dig out three babies when they had to pull back under fire.

Coker said the flare that hit the ammunition dump was fired by “somebody who knew what a pistol flare – if that’s what it was – could do if it landed on a pile of ammunition, I mean, it was acres of stuff”.

The ammunition was stored in a large field surrounded by high walls in the Zafaraniyah neighbourhood in southeast Baghdad.

Sgt. 1st Class Roger King said several flares were fired over the walls into the dump. “The flares landed on some ammo boxes and that’s what started it.”

The munitions were part of the huge hauls of ordnance that US forces have been gathering from around Baghdad.

Ali Jawid, a neighbourhood resident, said explosions rocked the area, hitting houses and buildings.

“I have seen many people crying and I have seen many houses destroyed,” he said. “There were many explosions, many shards of missiles hit the buildings.”

US soldiers were keeping reporters away from the scene. But one soldier said he saw a dead body, and the military said civilians were being treated for injuries near the site of the blasts.

In recent days, there have been controlled explosions at the same ammunitions dump as US force destroyed arms caches.

At US Central Command in Qatar, a spokesman said US officials were investigating.

CNN broadcast footage of injured women and children with bloodied faces and said the blast may have killed at least 14 civilians.