I breifly mentioned the deaths of close to now 1,000 Iraqis in the stampede (I hate that word but I can’t find a better fit) during a Shia festival in Iraq. Apparently threats of suicide bombers scared the people celebrating and they ran onto a bridge over the Tigris River where a railing collapsed. My prayers are with their families.

Iraqi blogger Hammurabi adds more to the mix. We knew there were mortars fired in by an unknown group at the time, giving rising fears to the mix, but Hammurabi dictates there were rockets fired above those gathered as well. How did the fatal movement occure?

First they were firing rockets over the crowds away from the bridge then they pushed a thug between them over the bridge who shouted ‘terrorist, terrorist; there is bomber over the bridge ‘. The people when heard that run to catch him. The others tried to run away. Whether or not there was a suicidal or not the tool of death reached about 900 people.

So were there suicide bombers in the mix? DEBKA reports three men with suicide bomb vests were found in the area immediately after the incident. The interrogations of these three men tabbed Al Qaida in Iraq as the culprit of this scene. They were also likely the group launching mortars during a Shiite religious festival.