53 killed and scores wounded in bomb blast in shopping district of Baghdad

Baghdad: At least 53 people have been killed and more than 130 left wounded after two bombs went off within minutes of each other in a crowded shopping district in the capital on Thursday.

Iraqis were enjoying a pleasant spring evening when a roadside bomb hidden under a vendor stall detonated in the primarily Shiite, middle-class Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah. Five minutes later, a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated, Mohammed al-Rubaie, the head of the Karradah municipality, told the state-run Al-Iraqiya TV.

Many of the victims were teens or young adults, and four were women, police and officials at three hospitals said.

Interior Ministry officials and hospital officials said 53 people were killed and 130 were wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because not authorized tospeak to media.

Hassan Abdullah, who owns a clothing shop in the area,said he was walking to the site of the first blast to see what happened when the second bomb went off.

"I saw a leg and a hand falling near me as I was walking.The whole place was a mess. Wounded people were crying for help, and people started to run away," said Abdullah, 25.

"The aim of such attacks is the random killing of as manypeople as possible in order to terrorize Iraqi people."

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.