At least 17 Iraqis and two Americans have been killed in a powerful car bomb blast which ripped the main gate to the headquarters of the US occupation authorities in Baghdad. "Initial reports say an estimated 17 Iraqis were killed in the blast," a military spokeswoman told Reuters. An official at the US-led administration put the toll at 17 dead and 25 wounded. AFP reports that a large number of people had been queuing for work inside the compound, when the blast occurred. According to Aljazeera's correspondent, a vehicle, the pick-up truck model which is used by US officials or guests of the occupation authorities, stopped at the main gate of the strictly-secured compound. As a soldier approached the vehicle, for a security check, it exploded. Glass and shrapnel were scattered up to 600 metres from the site of the blast. Reuters television footage showed wounded people lying near the a gate to the high security Green Zone, the US civilian and military base in the Iraqi capital, which is a former palace of ousted dictator, Saddam Hussein. Cars were on fire in the background as smoke spewed into the sky. **Witnesses*** One witness, quoted by AFP, said it was a car lining up to enter the compound that exploded. "Soldiers panicked. One was thrown to the ground. I saw an Iraqi employee hit the ground. He was wounded. It was so strong. The blast was so strong. I never heard anything like that before". Another witness, an Iraqi employee of the US authorities, who was waiting to enter the compound, said he saw five bodies lying on the street. "There was a pick-up truck and six GMC cars," the witness said. GMC sports utility vehicles are often used by western contractors and occupation authority employees. **PHOTO CAPTION*** People carry an injured man from the scene of a car bomb which exploded outside the main gate to the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition Sunday, Jan 18, 2004. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)