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Stampede Kills Hundreds of Iraqis
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A video grab showing victims of the stampede. (Reuters).
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BAGHDAD,
August 31, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – More than
600 Iraqi Shiites were killed Wednesday, August 31, in a stampede off
a bridge over the Tigris river in Baghdad.
"Some
637 deaths have been accounted for and 238 wounded according to
information obtained from five hospitals," an Iraqi security
official told Agence France Presse (AFP).
Many
of the dead drowned after falling off a narrow bridge in a surge of
panic triggered by rumors there were suicide bombers in the crowd, who
were marching to Al-Kadhimiya mosque in Baghdad's Al-Kadhimiya
district to commemorate the death of the seventh imam, Musa
Al-Kadhim, a revered religious figure among the Shiites.
The
stampede occurred some three hours after the Kadhimiya mosque had come
under mortar fire, which left at least seven people dead and dozens
wounded.
A
police source said hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims had been
heading to the Kadhimiya mosque when someone yelled that there was a
suicide bomber among them.
"Hundreds
of people started running and some threw themselves off the bridge
into the river," the source said.
"Many
elderly died immediately as a result of the stampede but dozens
drowned, many bodies are still in the river and boats are working on
picking them up."
Tragedy
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Iraqi ambulances and soldiers weave through on Al-A'ema bridge to take the injured to hospitals. (Reuters).
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One
hospital said it had received at least 100 bodies by 12:30 (0830 GMT),
Reuters said.
The
hospital source said bodies were being sent to two other nearby
hospitals as well.
"We
have lost count, we have hundreds and hundreds of dead and
injured," a Health Ministry official told Reuters.
"We
can't tell how many are dead. Many bodies are still in the
river," the official added.
Police
and hospital sources said some 255 people were injured in the
stampede.
The
Doha-based Al-Jazeera channel showed footage of several bodies
partially covered in white sheets on a hospital floor.
Doctors
and orderlies were treating many of the injured on the floor or on
trolleys in corridors. A child lay unconscious on a stretcher, with an
intravenous drip dangling from her arm.
An
interior ministry source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) most of the
victims were children and women.
Sunnis
Rush to Help
Sunni
and Shiite observers and officials, speaking on Al-Jazeera, put the
blame largely with the occupation forces and Iraqi government for not
doing enough to organize and secure such huge gatherings of people.
Sheikh
Harith Al-Dari, chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, the
highest Sunni body in Iraq, offered condolences to the Shiites,
insisting the tragedy had a positive side in showing the strong bonds
among Iraqis of all religious sects and dealing a heavy blow to
inciters and hate-mongers.
Many
Iraqi Sunnis in Al-Hadhimiya neighborhood rushed to offer help to the
injured.
Moayed
Al-Aadami, imam of the Abu Hanifa mosque, said the mosque is offering
help, in cooperation with the Iraqi residents in the area, to move the
wounded to hospitals to receive treatment.
Abbas
Al-Rabbi of the Martyr Sadr Office blamed the Iraqi government and the
US occupation forces for the stampede.
He
added the US forces were unable to maintain order in such Shiite
religious occasions due to their ignorance of the traditions of the
Iraqi people.
Iraq's
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari declared three days of mourning
following the huge loss of life, state television reported.
"The
Prime Minister has announced three days of mourning for the victims of
this tragedy," a television announcer said, reading a statement
from Jaafari.
The
tragedy comes one day after at least 56 Iraqis were killed in multiple
US air strikes in the western Iraqi city of Qaim, near the Syrian
borders.
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