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Twin suicide car bombings struck two Baghdad bridges today, killing at least 23 people, including 11 police officers, injuring at least 57 others, and damaging the two structures.
The bombings targeted the Old Diyala Bridge and the nearby New Diyala Bridge, which span the Diyala River, a tributary of the Tigris in southern Baghdad.
At approximately 6 pm, the driver of a sedan in a line of cars near a police checkpoint detonated his vehicle, partially collapsing the span, police said, according to the Associated Press.
Two minutes later, the AP reports, a large fuel truck rapidly approached a second police checkpoint at New Diyala Bridge, and detonated, police said. Police and civilian cars ignited, and firefighters tried to control the blazing vehicles, the AP reports.
The New Diyala Bridge was also damaged in that second attack.
"Suddenly I heard a big explosion, and a huge fire rose from the checkpoint," Abdullah Khalaf, an eyewitness to the second explosion, told the AP.
"I saw one wounded woman asking for help while she was trapped inside a damaged car and three wounded policemen on the ground," he said. "There were pools of blood and pieces of flesh."
The old Diyala bridge is similar in design to central Baghdad's al-Sarafiya bridge which was destroyed a month ago when an explosives-rigged truck was detonated on it, killing at least ten.
Days after the al-Sarafiya attack, Baghdad’s al-Jadirya bridge was attacked by a bomber, killing eight.
