Nine dead in huge car bomb blast

At least nine people died and 20 were wounded when a massive car bomb exploded at a checkpoint near an area housing international offices and embassies in Baghdad, police said.

The car was packed with 1,000 pounds of explosives, said Iraqi police Colonel Majid Abdel Hamid.

It exploded at a checkpoint leading to the car park.

Black smoke poured into the air. Police cars and ambulances raced to the scene.

“We were gathering outside the convention centre seeking jobs,” said one witness, Alla Hassan. “We were thrown to the ground. Then I saw many dead people on the ground.”

The area was once the headquarters of the US occupation authorities, but now houses the US and British Embassies, as well as the offices of the interim Iraqi government.

Iraqi police sealed off the area. US helicopters hovered over the blast site.

At al-Yarmuk hospital, Iraqis waited anxiously outside for the ambulances to arrive.

Doctors worked frantically to cut bandages and tend to the wounded. Men arrived on stretchers, splattered with blood.