Car bomb kills 17 in central Baghdad

A parked car bomb killed 17 civilians and left a gaping crater in a busy square Wednesday in central Baghdad, police said.

Another 32 people were wounded by the blast, a police officer said on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the explosion ripped a hole more than 3 feet deep and nearly 5 feet wide in the asphalt. Three minibuses and six cars were damaged by flames and flying debris. Blood pooled in the street.

A gas station and a nearby restaurant, which was closed at the time of the blast, also suffered damage.

The explosives had been planted in a vehicle in al-Hurriyah square in the mostly mixed Karradah neighborhood, and detonated around 10:15 a.m., the police officer said.

Thamir Sami, 33, was carrying clothes from his menswear shop out to his car when the explosion shook the area.

"Women and children were lining up near the gas station to get fuel ... I saw burnt bodies. Other motorists and I helped evacuate the wounded before the ambulances came," he said.

The bombing occurred nearly a week after a cluster of explosions, including one from a massive truck bomb, hit the same neighborhood. Karradah previously had been thought to be one of central Baghdad's safest areas. Last Thursday's blasts killed more than 60 people.