Simultaneous car blasts at fuel station kill 13

Baghdad: Two bombs exploded in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighbourhood yesterday, killing 13 people and wounding at least 25.

An officer at Mansour police station, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, said two parked cars exploded one after another near a fuel station.

The blast set fire to the station, and burned several cars in the area, he said.

The officer initially put the death toll at seven, but later said that some of the wounded died.

Hours later, firefighters sprayed streams of water over at least six smoldering cars, as Iraqi soldiers and civilians staggered around the wreckage. Associated Press Television News footage showed blood pooling amid scattered fuel containers. Nearby, tea cups lay toppled on a blanket spread over wooden crates.

A woman in a black veil sat crying on a curb outside Yarmouk hospital where the victims were taken. The wounded lay on stretchers crowded in the hallway inside.

Mansour is a primarily Sunni neighbourhood in western Baghdad.