By Xinhua
Baghdad : The death toll of the triple car bomb attack on Wednesday in Amara, capital of southern Iraq’s Maysan Province, rose to 39 with 125 others wounded, an Interior Ministry source said.
“Our latest reports from the province said that 39 people were killed and some 125 others were wounded by the attack in Amara earlier in the day,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The first car bomb detonated shortly after 10 a.m. local time (GMT 0700) in the parking lot in the Dijla thoroughfare in central Amara, the source said.
A few minutes later, a second car bomb went off outside the parking lot, where many people gathered to examine the damages from the first blast, he said.
Shortly after, the third car bomb detonated near the gate of a movie theater in the thoroughfare, the source added.
The source expected the toll could rise as many of the victims were transported to different hospitals and other medical centers in the city.
Earlier, a local police source put the toll at 30 and 45 people wounded.
Amara, capital of Maysan province, is located some 360 km southeast of Baghdad, and is bordering Iran.
In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off near the Hikmah high school in Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, wounding a civilian, Brigadier Burhan Wasif the police chief of the city told Xinhua by telephone.
Earlier, the Saudi-owned satellite TV station Al-Arabiya reported that a huge explosion was heard in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.