BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 648 people were killed in a stampede on a bridge Wednesday when panic engulfed a Shiite religious procession amid rumors that a suicide bomber was about to attack, officials said. It was the single biggest confirmed loss of life in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.
Scores jumped or were pushed to their deaths into the Tigris River, while others were crushed in the crowd. Most of the dead were women and children, Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.
Tensions already had been running high in the procession in Baghdad's heavily Shiite Kazimiyah district because of a mortar attack two hours earlier against the shrine where the marchers were heading. The shrine was about a mile from the bridge.
An absolute tragedy, yet more fodder for common Iraqi dissent against the terrorists who attack them.
This part of the article, though, seemed a bit odd:
Abdul-Rahman said 648 were killed and 322 injured, although figures from other official sources varied slightly. Survivors rushed in ambulances and private cars to several hospitals, where officials scrambled to compile accurate casualty figures.
Right. Because compiling accurate casualty figures is priority number one.
/sarcasm
I'm sure that's what the AP reporter covering this story was most interested in, but if I had to guess I'd say the officials were probably scrambling to deal with the 300+ injured survivors who were arriving by ambulance and private cares.
Reporters are absolute ghouls some times.