Toronto Star : Iraqi soccer fans massacred

Iraqi soccer fans massacred

At least 50 dead after car bombs target celebrating Iraqis

Associated Press | July 25, 2007

BAGHDAD — Officials in Iraq say two suicide car bombings struck soccer fans in Baghdad today as they were celebrating Iraq’s victory in the Asian Cup semifinal.

At least 50 people are dead and more than 100 wounded.

The victims were among the thousands of revellers who took to the streets of the capital after Iraq’s soccer team beat South Korea to reach the tournament’s final against Saudi Arabia on Sunday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Police and hospital officials say the first attack took place about 6:30 p.m. when a bomb exploded in a crowd of people cheering near a popular ice cream parlour in Baghdad’s western neighbourhood of Mansour.

Interior Ministry officials say at least 30 people were killed and 75 wounded in that attack.

Another suicide car bomber detonated his payload about 45 minutes later in the midst of dozens of vehicles filled with revellers near an Iraqi army checkpoint in the eastern district of Ghadeer.

The second attack killed at least 20 people, including two soldiers, and wounded 61.