Iraq blast ‘kills 700’

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 8

Iraq blast ‘kills 700’

NZPA-Reuter London

Britain’s “The Independent” newspaper said up to 700 people were killed in an explosion last month at a secret defence establishment near Bagdad where Iraq is believed to be developing missile technology.

Quoting United States diplomats’ and Middle Eastern sources, the newspaper said the blast occurred on the afternoon of August 17, causing a blaze that firefighting planes took nearly a week to extinguish.

The explosion at the military-industrial complex near al-Hillah, 64km south of Bagdad, was apparently loud enough to

be heard in the Iraqi capital, the newspaper said.

It quoted United States diplomats as saying they had receiyed information from Iraqi sources of a big incident in the second half of August in which casualties were “in the low hundreds.”

“The Independent” quoted other sources as saying a third of the huge defence Complex, which is understood to contain workers’ housing and armament factories, had been destroyed and that 700 bodies had been recovered. There was no immediate suggestion that sabotage was. involved in the blast.