A car bomb killed 25 people and wounded 45 on Saturday evening when it exploded in the middle of a village market near Baquba, north of Baghdad, local police said.
The attack in the Shi’ite village of Huwaider, about 60km north of the capital, came minutes before the start of evening prayers at the nearby mosque and the breaking of the day-long Ramadan fast.
The market was packed with last-minute shoppers.
Police say the explosion was set off by a suicide bomber.
A photographer for news agency AFP at Baquba general hospital, where many of the casualties were taken, spoke of scenes of chaos and anguish as families sought news of loved ones and ambulances kept bringing in bodies, some blown to bits.
Many of the wounded were laid out on the floor because of a lack of beds.
”They’ve done this to us because we are Shi’ites,” screamed a relative of one of the victims.
Witnesses said the victims include children and senior citizens, several of whom died on their way to the hospital or in the emergency ward. — AFP
