50 killed, 200 injured in Baghdad blasts

BAGHDAD - At least 50 people were killed and 200 injured in three powerful explosions in Baghdad Sunday morning, police told DPA.

Police said the most powerful blast was near the Iranian embassy in Baghdad’s al-Salihiya district. Many of those injured in that blast worked at the bank next to the embassy, police said.

A man screamed hysterically outside the bank minutes after the blast, saying it was a miracle he had survived when so many dozens of others had been killed.

“All these explosions are because of the conflict over power and the formation of the new government,” he yelled, to no one in particular.

The blast badly damaged the buildings housing the satellite news network al-Diyar and the Press Syndicate, blowing out the windows and injuring an unknown number of journalists inside.

A second blast exploded in Baghdad’s busy al-Rowad Square, the site of many offices and shops, police said. The third exploded on al-Amirat Street, where the Egyptian, German, Brazilian and Syrian embassies are located.

The Dubai-based news network al-Arabiya reported that security guards at the Egyptian embassy were among the injured, but Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, told reporters that he could only confirm six deaths and 140 injuries.

The blasts plunged the capital into chaos as dozens of ambulances tried to battle through the streets clogged with people trying to get home for fear of more attacks, while security officers at checkpoints throughout the city carefully checked vehicles for explosives.

Earlier in the day, at least 12 people had been injured in three smaller bomb attacks, Baghdad’s Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.

Tensions are high in the country as politicians wrangle to form a government following tight, and contested, parliamentary election results from the March 7 elections.