BAGHDAD, Aug. 31 -- Rumors of a suicide bomber in the midst of a crowd of Shiite Muslim pilgrims set off a stampede Wednesday on a Tigris River bridge, killing hundreds as panicked worshipers trampled others or hurled themselves off the bridge, according to witnesses and officials.
Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said 637 people died and another 183 were injured, though other estimates ranged widely.
The stampede occurred as hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims walked to a Baghdad shrine in an annual religious commemoration that shut down much of Baghdad.
"The people when they were at the bridge, more than one person started yelling, and saying the bridge will fall down, the bridge will explode," said Khalid Fadl, a nearby resident. "So the people started running in panic, pushing each other, trying to run away. Some of the people fell down, and the people stepped on them," Fadl said.
"The others threw themselves off the bridge, into the river."
Crowds tore down metal sidings erected along the sides of the bridge in order to leap into the river, witnesses said. Worshipers pulled countless bodies from the river into late afternoon.
Arabic TV stations showed men laying out the waterlogged bodies in the hallways of the Khadamiya district hospital. horrified crowds watching on the banks dove into the Tigris to pull corpses to shore. Water seeped from the black trousers and shirts and twisted abayas of the lifeless pilgrims.
Two hours earlier, several mortar and rocket rounds hit the area around the shrine, killing seven people and injuring at least 40.
A U.S. military statement said Apache helicopters fired on the attackers after observing the rocket launches.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00450.html
At Least 600 Killed in Stampede Near Baghdad Shrine
Moderator: Super Moderators
Dead bodies floating in Baghdad. Dead bodies floating in New Orleans. What's the difference, folks? The United States has the obligation to take care of both, and if it cannot, then let the United States stand aside and let the United Nations do the job!
"Fuggedah about it, Jake --- it's Chinatown!"
Updated: 11:05 AM EDT
1,000 Iraqis Feared Dead in Stampede, Officials Say
By Mariam Karouny, Reuters
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Aug. 31) - Up to 1,000 Iraqi Shi'ites might have died in a stampede on a Tigris River bridge in Baghdad on Wednesday, panicked by rumours a suicide bomber was about to blow himself up, government officials told Reuters.
Most victims were women and children who "died by drowning or being trampled" after panic swept a throng of thousands as they headed to a religious ceremony, an Interior Ministry official said.
"An hour ago the death toll was 695 killed, but we expect it to hit 1,000," said Dr Jaseb Latif Ali, a general manager at Iraq's Health Ministry.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabor and two top Shi'ite officials blamed insurgents for the stampede, saying a terrorist spread a rumour there was a suicide bomber in the crowd.
Tensions are high among Iraq's rival religious and ethnic communities ahead of a referendum on a new constitution for the post-Saddam Hussein era.
Television images showed people clambering down from the bridge to escape the surging crowd, and piles of slippers left behind by the crush of people.
Hysterical women knelt over corpses, wailing and praying. Ambulances rushed to the scene and people carried bodies on stretchers while others lined the river banks and crowded the bridge.
Scores of bodies were covered with whatever was around -- foil, clothes or plastic sheeting.
One hospital said it had received at least 100 bodies by 12:30 (0830 GMT). A hospital source said bodies were also being sent to two nearby hospitals.
A police source said swarming crowds had been heading to the Kadhimiya mosque in the old district of north Baghdad when someone shouted there was a suicide bomber among them.
"Hundreds of people started running and some threw themselves off the bridge into the river," the source said.
"Many elderly died immediately as a result of the stampede but dozens drowned, many bodies are still in the river and boats are working on picking them up."
Earlier at least seven people were killed in three separate mortar attacks on the crowd heading to the mosque to celebrate the martyrdom of Musa Al-Kadhim, a revered religious figure among Shi'ites.
Reuters Television showed a woman weeping over the body of her dead child in al-Nu'man hospital. Dozens of bodies were strewn across the floor.
The hospital was filled with the sounds of screaming and wailing as disconsolate men and women searched for, and found, loved ones.
Doctors and orderlies were treating many of the injured on the floor or on trolleys in corridors. A child lay unconscious on a stretcher, with an intravenous drip dangling from her arm.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari declared three days of mourning and President Jalal Talabani said in a statement that it was "a great tragedy which will leave a scar on our souls".
Explosions were heard across Baghdad on Wednesday morning.
A Reuters correspondent reported hearing six mortar rounds exploding near the main airport, although the U.S. military had no information of any attacks there.
Insurgency Unabated
Despite the draft constitution, there has been no easing in an insurgency waged by Sunni Muslims, dominant under Saddam, and international guerrillas inspired by Osama bin Laden.
The U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003 and has been battling insurgents while Iraqis have tried to form a new post-Saddam constitution and government.
The persistent fighting has helped to push down President George W. Bush's approval rating to a career low of 45 percent on concerns over the war and soaring fuel prices, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published on Tuesday.
The U.S. war in Iraq now costs more per month than the average monthly cost of military operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a report issued on Wednesday.
The report, entitled "The Iraq Quagmire" from the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus, both liberal, anti-war organisations, put the cost of operations in Iraq at $5.6 billion per month.
This breaks down to almost $186 million a day.
"By comparison, the average cost of U.S. operations in Vietnam over the eight-year war was $5.1 billion per month, adjusting for inflation," it said.
Additional reporting by Sebastian Alison, Fares Mehdawi, Lutfi Abu Oun, Aseel Kami
08-31-05 11:25 EDT
1,000 Iraqis Feared Dead in Stampede, Officials Say
By Mariam Karouny, Reuters
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Aug. 31) - Up to 1,000 Iraqi Shi'ites might have died in a stampede on a Tigris River bridge in Baghdad on Wednesday, panicked by rumours a suicide bomber was about to blow himself up, government officials told Reuters.
Most victims were women and children who "died by drowning or being trampled" after panic swept a throng of thousands as they headed to a religious ceremony, an Interior Ministry official said.
"An hour ago the death toll was 695 killed, but we expect it to hit 1,000," said Dr Jaseb Latif Ali, a general manager at Iraq's Health Ministry.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabor and two top Shi'ite officials blamed insurgents for the stampede, saying a terrorist spread a rumour there was a suicide bomber in the crowd.
Tensions are high among Iraq's rival religious and ethnic communities ahead of a referendum on a new constitution for the post-Saddam Hussein era.
Television images showed people clambering down from the bridge to escape the surging crowd, and piles of slippers left behind by the crush of people.
Hysterical women knelt over corpses, wailing and praying. Ambulances rushed to the scene and people carried bodies on stretchers while others lined the river banks and crowded the bridge.
Scores of bodies were covered with whatever was around -- foil, clothes or plastic sheeting.
One hospital said it had received at least 100 bodies by 12:30 (0830 GMT). A hospital source said bodies were also being sent to two nearby hospitals.
A police source said swarming crowds had been heading to the Kadhimiya mosque in the old district of north Baghdad when someone shouted there was a suicide bomber among them.
"Hundreds of people started running and some threw themselves off the bridge into the river," the source said.
"Many elderly died immediately as a result of the stampede but dozens drowned, many bodies are still in the river and boats are working on picking them up."
Earlier at least seven people were killed in three separate mortar attacks on the crowd heading to the mosque to celebrate the martyrdom of Musa Al-Kadhim, a revered religious figure among Shi'ites.
Reuters Television showed a woman weeping over the body of her dead child in al-Nu'man hospital. Dozens of bodies were strewn across the floor.
The hospital was filled with the sounds of screaming and wailing as disconsolate men and women searched for, and found, loved ones.
Doctors and orderlies were treating many of the injured on the floor or on trolleys in corridors. A child lay unconscious on a stretcher, with an intravenous drip dangling from her arm.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari declared three days of mourning and President Jalal Talabani said in a statement that it was "a great tragedy which will leave a scar on our souls".
Explosions were heard across Baghdad on Wednesday morning.
A Reuters correspondent reported hearing six mortar rounds exploding near the main airport, although the U.S. military had no information of any attacks there.
Insurgency Unabated
Despite the draft constitution, there has been no easing in an insurgency waged by Sunni Muslims, dominant under Saddam, and international guerrillas inspired by Osama bin Laden.
The U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003 and has been battling insurgents while Iraqis have tried to form a new post-Saddam constitution and government.
The persistent fighting has helped to push down President George W. Bush's approval rating to a career low of 45 percent on concerns over the war and soaring fuel prices, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published on Tuesday.
The U.S. war in Iraq now costs more per month than the average monthly cost of military operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a report issued on Wednesday.
The report, entitled "The Iraq Quagmire" from the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus, both liberal, anti-war organisations, put the cost of operations in Iraq at $5.6 billion per month.
This breaks down to almost $186 million a day.
"By comparison, the average cost of U.S. operations in Vietnam over the eight-year war was $5.1 billion per month, adjusting for inflation," it said.
Additional reporting by Sebastian Alison, Fares Mehdawi, Lutfi Abu Oun, Aseel Kami
08-31-05 11:25 EDT
A silent mouth is sweet to hear. Irish saying
Praying ............for the one candle to be lit to take away the darkness that has enveloped this nation and overseas......
I do believe that we are living in end times......
If today's news is any indication....I would say that we are darn close.
The thing that is so frustrating the right wingers go on like there isn't a care in the world................that all is well as the wall fall beside them and claim still that all is well....................
I do believe that we are living in end times......
If today's news is any indication....I would say that we are darn close.
The thing that is so frustrating the right wingers go on like there isn't a care in the world................that all is well as the wall fall beside them and claim still that all is well....................