Posted on 08/31/2005 11:06:11 AM PDT by anymouse
Nearly 700 Iraqi Shi'ites died in a stampede over a Baghdad bridge provoked by rumors of a suicide bomber on Wednesday, and an official said the death toll was expected to reach 1,000.
The swarming crowds had been heading to a religious ceremony at the Kadhimiya mosque in the old district of north Baghdad when someone shouted there was a suicide bomber among them, a police source said.
"Hundreds of people started running and some threw themselves off the bridge into the river," the source said.
"Many elderly died immediately ... but dozens drowned, many bodies are still in the river and boats are working on picking them up."
Most victims were women and children who "died by drowning or being trampled," 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 the Health Ministry.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabor and two top Shi'ite officials blamed insurgents for the stampede, saying a terrorist spread a rumor there was a suicide bomber in the crowd.
But Defense Minister Saadoun Al-Dulaimi said the stampede was not related to sectarian tensions gripping the country since a U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
"What happened has nothing at all to do with any sectarian tension," he said on television.
HIGH TENSIONS
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 hoisted bodies onto 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.
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 figure for 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 loved ones.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari declared three days of mourning and President Jalal Talabani said it was "a great tragedy which will leave a scar on our souls."
Explosions were heard across Baghdad on Wednesday morning.
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, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.
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 and anti-war organizations, 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.
Of course the media will say this is Bush's fault. :(
ABC Radio News said it was now over 800.
No this one they'll blame our TROOPS! Mark it!
Sheehan would say these 800 were needed as sacrifices to show the need for US to get out of Iraq.
Or some such nonsensical damfoolery.
A mortar attack a few hours earlier killed a handful. A RUMOR killed over 800. Looks like al Qaeda has new cheaper weapon.
These people are expected to govern themselves?
New Orleans is their model for self-governance.
This shows the reality underlyling FDR's quote, "All we have to fear is fear itself."
Proving that a rumor can be more effective than a bomb. Unfortunately Al Queda will learn from this.
I agree - today just happens to be the first anniversary of start of the Beslan massacre.
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