By Ali Jawad
BAGHDAD (AA): One elderly man was killed, 250 of Shia Muslim pilgrims were injured in a stampede in Baghdad on Sunday, panicked by rumors a suicide bomber was about to blow himself up, according to an Iraqi police officer.
A visitor began to tear his clothes in Kadhimiya area in northern Baghdad after losing his daughter in the crowd, making the pilgrims believe he was a bomber trying to detonate his explosive vest, Police Captain Ahmed Khalaf told Anadolu Agency.
“Scores of people, including children and elders, were injured in the stampede,” he said.
Khalaf said Iraqi forces have managed to control the situation.
In another incident in Kadhimiya, fire broke out on Sunday at stores located near the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, as Shia Muslim pilgrims were visiting to commemorate his death anniversary.
According to Shafaq News, the fire broke out at noon, leaving several stores on the main street that faces the shrine burnt. Huge number of panicked visitors were there.
In 2005, more than 1,000 people were killed in a deadly stampede in Baghdad after rumors about a suicide bomber in the area.
Additional reporting by The Muslim News
[Photo: Kadhimayn/Kadhimiya mosque in Baghdad, Iraq. Photo by Ligadier Truffaut from Paragon City, USA/Creative Commons]