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08/31/2005:

"Bridge Accident Reportedly Kills at Least 640 in Iraq"

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- At least 640 Shiite pilgrims were killed Wednesday when a railing on a bridge collapsed during a religious procession, sending scores into the Tigris River, Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Hussein Ali Kamal said.

There was confusion over what caused the railing to collapse on the bridge to the city's heavily Shiite Kazamiyah district, but police also said there were unconfirmed reports that the stampede may have been caused when someone in the crowd shouted there was a suicide bomber among them.

After the collapse, thousands of people rushed to both banks of the river to search for survivors. Hundreds of men stripped down and waded into the muddy water downstream from the bridge, trying to extract bodies floating in the water.
Tensions had been running high after a mortar and rocket attack some two hours earlier killed at least seven people and injured at least 40 near the Imam Mousa al-Kadim shrine, the destination of the worshippers. The shrine is about a mile from the bridge. U.S. Apache helicopters fired on the attackers, a U.S. statement said.
A medical worker told Associated Press Television News that he rushed in to help those hurt in the attack.

"We saw the dead scattered on the ground and the injured were taken to al-Kadimiyah hospital for treatment. There are more injured children than the men and women," the medical worker said.
nytimes.com