Dozens hurt in Baghdad car bomb

A car bomb exploded at rush hour this morning along one of central Baghdad’s busiest streets, injuring dozens.

Witnesses said three civilian sport utility vehicles – the kind favoured by Western contractors – passed by as the blast occurred at Tahrir Square at the eastern end of the Jumhuria Bridge across the Tigris river.

All three of the SUVs were damaged and one could be seen burning. It appeared at least eight vehicles in all had been destroyed in the blast. People crawled over the rubble to help find and rescue the wounded, lifting them with bedsheets and blankets before moving them into ambulances.

Iraqis started firing weapons in the air to drive back crowds which struck the cars with sticks.

The crowd shouted ”Allahu Akbar,” or “God is Great,” and “Down with the USA.”

The scene was chaotic with terrified people trying to pull out victims from the wreckage.

Several of them vented their anger at foreign reporters, since many Iraqis blame the Americans for having stirred up such violence by their presence.

Three US 1st Cavalry Division soldiers dragged a bystander away from the scene and began beating him with a stick. The crowd started to chant. “Down with the USA.”

Iraqi police had to intervene as the crowd screamed in outrage and American soldiers brandished their weapons.

One civilian bystander with a severed finger ran up to Western reporters and shouted at them to leave. American troops arrived at the scene and tried to seal off the area.

At least one charred body was removed from a two-story building which had been completely destroyed. Terrified bystanders dragged bloodied bodies and crammed them on the back of pickup trucks to rush them to hospitals.

Smoke rose from small fires scattered around the bomb scene.