Insurgents in Iraq kill 32 with chemical bomb

May 17, 2007 Insurgents in Iraq have used a chemical car bomb to kill at least 32 people and injuring at least 50 in the Diyala Province, in the village of Abu Saydah on Tuesday. Reports say that the vehicle used in the attack was parked at a market near two tea stalls.

"A small van with gas canisters exploded in a crowded market, there were many people dead at the scene," said Iraqi police officer, Captain Sadiq Mohammed.

According to police, the bomb was described as being filled with chlorine gas and injuries reported at the local hospital include burns from a "poisonous gas," but the United States military in Iraq denies those reports. "Our folks on the scene... who are investigating this do not have any of those indications," said a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, Lt-Col Michael Donnelly.

One of the injured, Kadim Hussein, who was taken to the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City for treatment, complained of eye irritation. "My eyes became puffy due the chlorine gas that was packed in the car bomb...also I had many pieces of shrapnel in my chest and right shoulder," he said.

Hospitals in Muqdadiyah and Sadr City received most of the victims of the bomb blast. Doctors and authorities at the Imam Ali hospital reported that 11 of the patients they treated were presented with symptoms typical of chlorine poisoning and that many of the victims had trouble breathing.

Chlorine can burn the skin almost instantly and can kill a person if they inhale too much of the fumes. Chlorine is usually used domestically as a disinfectant as well as a bleach.

In April, at least 35 were killed when insurgents detonated a chlorine bomb in the city of Ramadi.

This comes just 6 days after Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division based in Iraq's Diyala province asked for more troops to help with insurgents.