Death toll in Baghdad stampede rises to 965

The death toll in the stampede on a Baghdad bridge Wednesday has risen to 965, with another 465 injured, an interior ministry source told Xinhua.

"We are informed that there are 122 bodies that have been taken back to the Sadr city, east of Baghdad, which adds the toll to a total of 965," the source told Xinhua.

A health ministry official earlier expected the death toll to hit 1,000.

About 1 million pilgrims from many parts of Baghdad and other provinces gathered near the Imam Mousa al-Kadim shrine in the capital's Kazimiyah district for the annual commemoration of the death of the seventh of the most sacred 12 Shiite Imams.

At the time of the tragedy, a huge number of people were rallying and marching toward the mosque.

All roads leading to the site have now been cordoned off by Iraqi police.

As the deadliest incident since the US-led war on Iraq in March 2003, Wednesday's stampede came at a time when tensions were running high between the country's major religious and ethnic communities before a referendum on a draft constitution due in October.

Source: Xinhua