- Truck detonated in Jameela market in the busy Sadr City neighbourhood
- Residents of the mainly Shiite local community rushed to help the victims
- They carried corpses in bin bags and drove the wounded to hospitals
- Blast incinerated much of the market, leaving charred wooden stalls
At least 60 people have been killed and scores injured after suspected ISIS militants detonated a massive truck bomb that ripped through a popular Baghdad food market this morning.
The truck detonated in Jameela market in the Iraqi capital's crowded and predominantly Shiite Sadr City neighbourhood shortly after dawn, according to two local police officers.
Residents of the Shiite community rushed to help the victims, carrying corpses in bin bags and sending the wounded to local hospitals in ambulances or cars. The blast incinerated much of the market, leaving charred wooden market stalls and scattering fruits and vegetables far around it.
Carnage: The truck detonated in Jameela market in the Iraqi capital's crowded and predominantly Shiite Sadr City neighbourhood shortly after dawn, according to two local police officers
Smouldering: Firemen hose down a burned vehicle at the site of the truck bomb attack in
Baghdad today
Baghdad today
Searching for survivors: A municipality bulldozer cleans up while civilians gather at the scene of bomb attack in Jameela market in the Iraqi capital's crowded Sadr City earlier this morning
Fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene and fire men were dousing the still-smouldering complex with water long after the explosion.
'On Thursdays the market is especially crowded because people come from the other provinces to stock up on food for the weekend,' one of the officers said.
He said the truck that set off the explosion was a refrigeration truck, so it was impossible to distinguish it from other trucks delivering produce to the market.
Four hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but ISIS militants commonly target military checkpoints or predominantly Shiite neighbourhoods such as Sadr City, with the goal of sending a message to the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.
Putting it out: Fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene and fire men were dousing the still-smouldering complex with water long after the explosion
Aftermath: The blast incinerated much of the market, leaving charred wooden market stalls and scattering fruits and vegetables far around it.
Tragic: Locals evacuate the body of a victim killed in the Iraqi capital's crowded Sadr City neighbourhood today
While near-daily attacks are common in the capital, death tolls have rarely reached this level for a single attack since the height of the country's brutal sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007.
The Sunni militant group currently holds territory in about a third of Iraq. They view Shiite Muslims, as well as other religious minorities, as apostates.
When they launched their major onslaught across northern Iraq last year, they vowed to continue on to Baghdad. But a mobilization of volunteer Shiite fighters deterred any significant attacks on the capital.
Last month, the militant group targeted a popular market in the eastern province of Diyala, killing more than 115 people in one of the worst-single attacks to tear through the country in a decade.
Destroyed: No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but ISIS militants commonly target military checkpoints or predominantly Shiite neighbourhoods such as Sadr City
Devastation: The Sunni militant group currently holds territory in about a third of Iraq. They view Shiite Muslims, as well as other religious minorities, as apostates
Rubble: People gather at the site of a truck bomb attack at a crowded market in Baghdad earlier
this morning
this morning
