Wednesday, August 31, 2005

MORE THAN 600 DEAD in a stampede in Baghdad:
At least 635 people have been killed and 237 others injured in a stampede on a bridge near a Shiite mosque in northeastern Baghdad, police said.

According to witnesses, the panic started when someone screamed that a suicide bomber was in the crowd.

A railing on the bridge then collapsed under the crush of people, and hundreds fell to their deaths in the Tigris River about 30 meters (yards) below, CNN's Jennifer Eccleston reported.

According to police, some people were crushed to death but most drowned. Police expect the death toll to rise as they are still pulling bodies from the river.

The stampede took place at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday (3:30 a.m. EDT) near the Kadhimiya mosque.

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