15 dead in Iraq bomb blast

At least 15 people were killed and another four injured when a bomb blew up in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighbourhood today, police said.

The bomb was hidden in a small barrel near a kerosene tanker where scores of people were waiting to purchase fuel at about 10am (7am Irish time), said police Col. Saad Abdul-Sada.

The number of dead later rose to 23.

When the bomb went off it exploded the kerosene tanker, Abdul-Sada said, adding that casualties were expected to rise.

Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite slum, is home to more than two million people and a stronghold of radical of the Mahdi army – a Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The death toll later rose to 32, police said.

People frantically carried survivors from the narrow muddy street to ambulances, and hauled away bodies in blankets.

The bomb was hidden in a barrel near the tanker, police said. A crowd of people was gathered behind the truck, with a long line down the street, when the bomb exploded.

There were more people on hand than usual as families sought to stock up on fuel for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he said.

In the aftermath of the blast, sandals of all sizes littered the ground, scattered around a large pool of water mixed with blood.

“I swear to Allah that this is a revenge against Sadr City,” a young man yelled, raising his hands in the air. “Where is (Prime Minister Nouri) Maliki’s government?”

Seventeen women were among the dead, Abdul-Sada said, adding that casualties were expected to rise.