The Hindu : Front Page : 700 pilgrims killed in Iraq stampede

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 01, 2005

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700 pilgrims killed in Iraq stampede

Atul Aneja

Alarm about suicide-bomber led to panic

MANAMA: At least 1,000 Shia pilgrims are feared dead following a stampede on a bridge while they were on their way to a shrine in Baghdad on Wednesday. The tragedy occurred when someone in the crowd — estimated at around a million — that was crossing the bridge on the Tigris raised an alarm that a suicide bomber was in its midst.

Panic set in as the people ran helter-skelter. Many died of suffocation.

A majority of the victims were drowned after a section of the metal bridge gave way under pressure. Eyewitnesses said hundreds of people tumbled into the river. A majority of those killed were women, children and the elderly.

"An hour ago, the death toll was 695, but we expect it to hit 1,000," Jaseb Latif Ali, a senior Health Ministry official said.

Iraqi officials denied that the incident on the Aima bridge was linked to tensions between Sunnis and Shias, which became acute after the Sunnis rejected the Shia-backed Iraqi draft Constitution on August 28.

In the past, Shias blamed Sunni extremists for attacking them during religious festivals.

"What happened has nothing at all to do with any sectarian tension," Defence Minister Saadun Al-Dulaim said.

Close to the site of the disaster, thousands of people, including relatives, desperately searched for survivors on the banks of the river. Many young men waded through water to retrieve bodies.

The tragedy occurred when the pilgrims from Baghdad and neighbouring areas were heading for the Imam Mousa al-Kadim shrine in Baghdad's Kadhimiya district to commemorate the death of the Shia saint.

The Iraqi Government has declared a three-day mourning, the state-owned television said.

Analysts point out that the targeting of the pilgrims was elaborately planned as mortar shells were first fired at the crowds, hours before they reached the bridge, killing 16 persons.

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