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Special report: Tension accelerates in Iraq
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Residents stand near a burnt truck beside a crater
after an explosion close to Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad
August 29, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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>>> | BAGHDAD,
Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of a fuel pipeline explosion in southern Iraq
city of Diwaniyah rose to
74, a local police source told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Another 94 people were injured when the fuel pipeline
caught fire following an explosion in Diwaniyah city, some 170 km south of
Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, the source told Xinhua
that at least 15 people were killed in the fire with dozens wounded. The
powerful explosion occurred late Monday night when many countrymen in Hamza
town, 25 km west of Diwaniyah city, were siphoning fuel from the pipeline, the
source said.
Several fire engines and dozens of firemen along with
many ambulances could be seen in the area, but rescue efforts were hampered by a
huge fire, the source added.
The pipeline, which used to carry petrol from
southern Iraqi oil fields to the capital, has not been used since 2003 but still
contain some fuel.
Also in Diwaniyah, the Iraqi army fiercely clashed with militants of Shiite radical leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army on Monday, leaving at least 34 people dead. Enditem
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