Iraq was shrouded in mourning last night after at least 769 Shia pilgrims died in a stampede across a Baghdad bridge, in the deadliest incident since the March 2003 invasion.
Panic broke out when hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims converged from alleys on to the al-Aima bridge, crushing hundreds and forcing hundreds more into the Tigris river, where they drowned.
The government said insurgents instigated the disaster by spreading rumours of a suicide bomber. But many survivors said they heard nothing about a putative attack, and blamed the authorities for mishandling the vast gathering.
The official death toll of 769 was expected to top 1,000, said Dr Jaseb Latif Ali, a senior health ministry official, with more than 300 injured. Most had suffocated or drowned.
Women, children and the elderly were trampled underfoot and clawed at the legs of those trying to get to the sides of the bridge. "They were crying, shouting out 'please rescue me', but there was no way to help them," said Hadi Shakir (25), a street trader.
His nephew Hamid (12) had teeth marks on his calf. "I stood on faces and one of them bit me." Survivors interviewed by the London-based Guardian newspaper said they heard no shout about a suicide bomber, and that the stampede seemed to be the result of too many people swarming into a confined space, with no effort to control the flow by police, soldiers or marshals.
Emergency services and civilians searched the Tigris for bodies last night, while ambulances and pick-up trucks delivered the dead and wounded to hospitals across the capital.
The government declared three days of national mourning as the shock reverberated across Iraq, grief mixing with disbelief and anger. There was no immediate sign of a sectarian backlash and few people expected an impact on next month's referendum on a draft constitution.
Some reports said up to one million people converged on Kadhimiya, a Shia district in northern Baghdad, for the annual commemoration of the 8th century death of Moussa al-Kadhim, one of Shia Islam's 12 revered imams.
Shia Islam, repressed under Saddam Hussein, has enjoyed a revival since his fall, despite sectarian attacks, including suicide bombings, by Sunni Arab insurgents. Mortars had landed near the shrine at about 8am local time, killing seven people and wounding dozens, but two hours later huge throngs continued tramping towards the two gilded domes.
Government officials said an unidentified person then shouted that there was a suicide bomber amid the crowd, sparking panic. "We hold the terrorists, Saddamists and radical extremists responsible for what happened," said Ammar al-Hakim, a leader of one ruling Shia party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Britain's foreign secretary, Jack Straw, blamed the mortar attack for the stampede and condemned what he said was a despicable act. "The depravity of these individuals who commit these acts of terrorism against their fellow Muslims sadly knows no bounds." US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad offered condolences but did not apportion blame for the tragedy, nor label it a terrorist attack.
Whatever the tragedy's cause, the consequence was all too plain. Within moments a solemn throng was transformed into a scrum fighting for its life. Many jumped into the Tigris, others fell in, and hundreds disappeared beneath the brown murk.
Despite sectarian tensions in the area, residents from the Sunni Arab district of Adhamiya rushed to help, pulling people from the water, providing drinks and donating blood, said one Shia, Ali Naji (37).
Haith al-Dhari, head of the Muslim Scholars' Association, a radical Sunni group, offered condolences to the bereaved.
A little-known Sunni insurgent group, the Army of the Victorious Sect, claimed responsibility for the mortar attack.