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âMany deadâ in Baghdad blast
Another day, another Mystery Market Massacre.At least 50 civilians are believed to have been killed during an air raid on a Baghdad market, Iraqi authorities say. Graphic television pictures showed people scrabbling through rubble to reach the dead and injured amid the wreckage in the Shula residential area of the city. Reports of the blast came as coalition forces renewed night-time bombing across the Iraqi capital. Take home message: when in Baghdad, steer clear of large groups of people during air raids. Correspondents in Baghdad say there is no clear information yet on what may have caused the destruction of al-Nasser market. Dr Osama Sakhari from al-Noor Hospital near the market told Reuters news agency he had counted 55 people killed and more than 47 wounded from Friday's attack. He said one baby had died in his arms. Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahaf told al-Hayat-LBC television that 58 people were dead and he expected the death toll to rise. Arabic broadcasters in Qatar and Abu Dhabi showed pictures of what they said were victims of the attack - mainly women, children and old people - as well as shots of mothers slapping themselves in grief. A Reuters correspondent who visited the scene said most of the one-storey shops in the area were destroyed. Most of the ground was covered by blood and broken glass and there was a crater about two metres (six feet) wide and half a metre deep. One man sobbed for his five-year-old son killed while playing near the vegetable market. "After this crime, I wish I could see [US President George W] Bush in order to cut him to pieces with my teeth," he said. Another man, Eyad Abadi, told the news agency: "We heard a plane flying over us. We saw a rocket coming in our direction and then we heard the explosion." Abu Dhabi television said the devastation may have been caused by a US cruise missile. But US officials at the Central Command headquarters in Qatar told the BBC they had no details yet and suggested it may have been a misfired Iraqi missile. It is not known if there are any military installations in the area. The BBC's Paul Wood in Baghdad - whose reports are monitored by Iraqi officials - says the incident could be the largest single loss of life in the war. He says it will be a propaganda victory for the Iraqis and Baghdad residents will see it as a further example of civilian lives being taken recklessly by the US. Only two days ago, Iraqi officials said at least 14 civilians died when another shopping area in Baghdad was hit during a coalition air strike. They added that seven more were killed and 92 injured in overnight raids on Friday. Posted by: Bulldog 2003-03-28 |
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