Simultaneous bombings kill 8 in Baghdad

FE Team | Published: October 25, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

BAGHDAD, Oct 24 (AP): Nearly simultaneous bombs struck commuters in a predominantly Shiite area on the southeastern edge of Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least eight people and wounding two dozen, police and hospital officials said.
The two blasts, which occurred about 30 yards apart at 7 a.m. in Jisr Diyala, were targeting government employees, construction workers and vendors preparing to travel into the capital, according to the officials.
Women and children were among the eight killed and 24 wounded, which also included three policemen who had been sipping tea bought from a vendor, the officials said.
The explosives were buried in a dirt-packed area where minibuses pick up people traveling to the nearby Baghdad neighbourhood of Zafaraniyah and the centre of the city. Vendors were selling pastries, juice and tea.
Mohammed Nuaman, a 36-year-old store owner who was wounded by shrapnel in the shoulder, said rescue efforts were complicated by a damaged bridge. The bridge, which spans the Diyala River, a Tigris tributary, to connect the area with Baghdad proper, was hit by two bombings in May and was still under repair.
"I heard a big explosion at the bus station area and another bomb went off about 30 seconds later, as I was heading to the area," Nuamen said, describing the charred bodies of victims in pools of blood.
"Locals rushed to the area and carried some wounded by their cars to the nearby Zafaraniyah hospital before the ambulances and police arrived about 15 minutes later," Nuaman said.
Jisr Diyala is about 10 miles southeast of Baghdad.
Despite the unrelenting bombings facing Iraqis in Baghdad and elsewhere, October is on course to record the second consecutive decline in Iraqi civilian deaths. The current pace of civilian deaths would put October at less than 900. The figure last month was 1,023 and for August, 1,956, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press.