BAGHDAD: At least 85 people were killed yesterday by a suicide truck bomb in the volatile Iraqi city of Kirkuk, some of them trapped on a bus where they burned to death, according to a witness.
Police also said 180 people were wounded and they warned the death toll could rise from the blast that heightened tension in the northern city, shared by Kurds, Turkmen, Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs, that plans to hold a crucial referendum on its future.
The blast, near an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraqi President Jalal Talaban, was one of several attacks in Kirkut that is supposed to vote this year on whether to join semi-autonomous Kurdistan.
"Tens of houses and shops were totally destroyed by the power of the explosion," said Police General Torhan Abdul Rahman, the city's deputy chief of police.
Dozens of cars were set on fire and passengers were trapped on a bus where they burned to death, said a cameraman at the scene.
Source: China Daily/agencies
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