Nine civilians killed in Baghdad blast

Nine civilians killed in Baghdad blast

Rescue workers are searching the rubble for possible victims

At least nine civilians are reported to have died when a bomb hit a residential neighbourhood in central Baghdad on Monday afternoon.

Witnesses quoted by several news agencies said at least three houses in the Mansour neighbourhood had been flattened in what they said was a US air raid. Some reports have put the death toll at 14.

Nine members of a family - including at least one child - were said to have been killed in the attack, which occurred at 1500 local time (1100 GMT).

The Iraqi capital has endured daily bombardment since the US-led coalition launched its war on Iraq nearly three weeks ago.

'Breaking point'

Neighbours and rescue workers were said to be searching through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the Mansour area for other possible victims.

Children were reportedly among the dead and wounded

The explosion left a crater eight metres deep and 15 metres wide, while the force of the blast broke windows and doors almost 275 metres away from the site

A heap of concrete, mangled iron rods, ruined furniture and clothes could be seen where buildings once stood.

The wounded were taken to the nearby Kindi hospital.

It is not known how many people have died in the latest air raids and fighting on the ground - but the BBC's Andrew Gilligan visited the Kindi hospital on Monday and said casualties were arriving every few minutes.

Most seemed to be from the fighting in the city, he said.

The Red Cross has warned that doctors at Kindi hospital are being stretched to breaking point.

The international body said so many casualties had been taken in that the hospital was running out of anaesthetics and other necessary drugs.

Saddam appearance

One local man described al-Mansour as a residential area "full of children and normal civilians".

On Friday, footage showing Saddam Hussein making a public appearance in the same area was broadcast by Iraqi TV, after US troops launched an attack on the capital's international airport.

Al-Mansour is also close to Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace, which was occupied by American forces on Monday.