US soldier killed in Iraq blast

A US soldier was killed and two others were injured today when a powerful explosion hit their convoy west of Baghdad, troops at the scene said.

The explosion happened as 20 US vehicles passed a wrecked car that had been abandoned beside the road.

Spc Jose Colon said the soldier who died was blown out of the truck nearest to the blast. It is believed a bomb was hidden in the car’s wreckage.

“We were just driving along when the explosion hit,” Colon said. “It was very big.”

He and another soldier, Spc Adalberto Bonilla, were in a car behind the most badly damaged vehicle, but were not hurt.

About half an hour after the attack, the truck that took the brunt of the blast’s force was still on fire.

Heavily armed US soldiers immediately sealed off the road.

The convoy was on its way to an American base in the desert near the Jordanian border. A US military spokesman in Baghdad said he had no information about the incident.

US soldiers have come under increasingly ferocious attacks in recent weeks. The dead soldier was the 33rd killed in hostile action since US President George Bush declared major combat over on May 1.

Also today, a US marine died in the southern town of Hilla when he fell off a building he was guarding, the military said.