Iraq buries stampede dead

Published: 10:28PM Friday September 02, 2005 Source: Reuters

  • Print this article
  • Text size + -

Iraqis on Friday mourned and buried some of the 1,000 killed in a stampede, struggling to come to terms with the tragedy which may after all draw Iraq's divided Sunnis and Shi'ites closer.
   
Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims planned a joint demonstration in Baghdad as a show of unity between the communities, a sign the stampede could become a catalyst for reconciliation between Iraq's two biggest religious communities.
   
But a car bomb killed at least one person, less than 3 km from the bridge where nearly 1,000 people died in a stampede two days ago, police sources said.
   
Fears of a suicide bomber in a huge crowd marching to a religious ceremony triggered the stampede causing the biggest loss of life in a single incident since the US invasion in March 2003.
   
Most of the dead were women and children who suffocated or were trampled to death as thousands flung themselves off the A'imma bridge into the Tigris river near the Kadhimiya mosque in north Baghdad.
   
At Baghdad's big Um Al-Qura mosque, Sunnis and Shi'ites arrived to pray together. They planned a peaceful demonstration after Friday prayers to promote reconciliation in the wake of the tragedy.
   
In the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad, funerals continued on Friday, although most of the victims were buried on Thursday. 
   
Tension and fear
   
As hundreds of bodies were buried, most people quietly absorbed the enormous scale of the disaster, but some were angry and blamed Sunnis, reflecting the level of tensions between the communities.
   
Ahmed Chasib, 31, collapsed in tears after his wife's body was lowered into a grave next to his sister -- both died in the stampede.
   
Chasib was only married to 29-year-old Nadia Arif for a year and said reports of events on the A'imma bridge were false, and that extremists from the Sunni community of  Aadhamiya, across the river from Kadhamiya, had attacked the Shi'ite pilgrims.
   
"We were travelling together but when we were near the bridge, the women ahead of us were hit by chemicals coming from Aadhamiya," he said late on Thursday.
   
"Whoever told you that they helped us was a liar," he said, angrily grasping the dirt on his wife's fresh grave as he contested accounts that Sunni Arabs had rescued struggling Shi'ites from the Tigris.
   
His account reflected the tensions and fears prevalent in Iraq. The prime minister has promised a full judicial inquiry and played down any talk of blame. 
   
Constitution
   
In Basra, a mainly Shi'ite city 550 km southeast of Baghdad, a crowd of several hundreds demonstrated in protest at the stampede and the deaths of Shi'ites - but they were also marching in support of a proposed new constitution for Iraq.
   
Gunmen in a car strafed worshippers at two Sunni mosques in Basra, killing one and wounding five, clerics said.
   
The draft constitution, which was adopted by parliament on Sunday, proposes a more federal government for Iraq, though the prospects for Shi'ites in the oil-rich south emulating the great autonomy enjoyed by Kurds in the north are unclear.
   
The draft is highly contentious for the minority Sunni Arabs, who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein, himself a Sunni.
   
Iraqis are due to vote in a referendum on the draft by October 15, although many Sunnis have vowed to do all within their power to make sure the draft is rejected. 

  • Print this article
  • Text size + -
  • more...

World News Video

Royal Wedding News

Most Popular

  1. Big supermarkets won't match milk price discount
  2. Peters: Whanau Ora funds 'squandered'
  3. Chinese fined for breaching one-child policy
  4. Hamilton murder accused remanded in custody
  5. Rena cleanup cost jumps to $130m

rssLatest News

Advertising

How do you want your news?

  • Mobile Devices

    TVNZ is available on mobile phones: Text TVNZ to 8869.

  • News Feeds

    See when TVNZ have added new content. You can get the latest headlines anywhere.

  • Podcasts

    Enjoy TVNZ on the move - a wide range of programmes and highlights are available.