Baghdad hospital blasts kill four

Baghdad hospital blasts kill four

Two car bombs outside one of Baghdad's main hospitals have killed four people and injured at least seven others, Iraqi security officials say.

Most were civilians waiting to collect relatives' bodies from the Yarmouk hospital mortuary, they said.

Separately, northern Kirkuk province governor Abdul Rahman Mustafa survived a suicide bomb attack, police said.

However, the blast in Kirkuk city killed one civilian and injured at least 12 other people.

The explosions outside Yarmouk hospital took place as people gathered at the packed mortuary to collect bodies of their relatives for burial, officials say.

One of the bombs apparently targeted a police patrol near the hospital, killing a policeman.

Yarmouk hospital has taken in many thousands of victims of growing violence in Baghdad since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Explosives belt

In Kirkuk, the attack happened at about 0935 local time (0635 GMT) as the governor's convoy was driving slowly through the city centre.

The bomber with a belt of explosives blew himself up after trying and failing to get inside the governor's car.

"It was the third assassination attempt on my life, but it will not stop me doing my job," Gov Abdul Rahman Mustafa told Reuters news agency.

Oil-rich Kirkuk lies about 290km (180 miles) north of Baghdad.

The predominantly Kurdish city has witnessed a spate of bombings in recent months.

Missing US pilot

Separately, US military officials investigating the crash of a single-seat US Air Force jet in Iraq on Monday said that insurgents reached the site before American forces could and the pilot remains missing.

Videotape pictures obtained by Associated Press appear to show the wreckage of the F-16CG jet in the farm field where it crashed Monday and the remains of a US serviceman with a tangled parachute nearby.

The jet crashed about 30km (20 miles) north-west of Baghdad while supporting ground forces active in Anbar province.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.

Photo Caption

The site of Tuesday's blasts at Baghdad Yarmouk hospital

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