Questions Arising about Bridge Stampede in Baghdad (VOA)

Questions Arising about Bridge Stampede in Baghdad
By Alisha Ryu
Kadhimiya, Iraq
01 September 2005

Iraqi officials say 965 Shi'ite pilgrims were killed Wednesday in a stampede on a bridge leading to a Baghdad shrine, but other Iraqi security officials, politicians, and the U.S. military in Baghdad are questioning the facts surrounding reports of the stampede in the northwest Kadhimiya district of the capital.

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On the bridge itself Wednesday afternoon, there was one striking sight, which did suggest that something catastrophic had occurred earlier. Hundreds of pairs of shoes littered both sides of the two-lane bridge, which some Iraqis said belonged to the more than 900 Shi'ites who allegedly perished in the stampede.

But there was also a strange absence of ambulances, medical personnel and rescue activities on the bridge or in the river. There was no sign of blood anywhere on the bridge and not a drop of blood could be found on a row of knee-high concrete barriers, which many of the victims were said to have been crushed against.