Seventeen people were killed when a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad on Thursday, according to reports.
The blast narrowly missed a US convoy, which passed by a few seconds earlier.
The explosion created a giant crater near Nasser Square on Saadoun Street, a densely populated commercial area.
Firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire caused by the blast. The police, assisted by US soldiers, sealed off the area.
Hospital officials at the nearby al-Nafis clinic, where some of the casualties were brought, said there were eight wounded.
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