Funerals for some 1,000 Iraqis killed in a stampede during a religious festival began across Baghdad today.
An Iraqi man covers the coffin of a little boy killed during a stampede
Three days of official mourning have been called for in the country, as grieving relatives combed hospitals and morgues today for missing loved ones killed in the tragedy which has overshadowed the daily bloodshed of war.
Some 965 people were confirmed to have died when thousands of Shia pilgrims rushed for safety onto a bridge across the Tigris in the capital, leading to deaths in the river below or in the crush on the roadway.
The Iraqi authorities have promised a full judicial inquiry into the tragedy.
According to an official, the final toll death toll is likely to be more than 1,000 as bodies were counted in hospitals, makeshift morgues and family homes across the city.
Although fears of sectarian attacks, real or imagined, may have contributed to the fear that drove the pilgrims to their deaths, the shock was felt across the factional divides.
People streamed to help from Aadhamiya, the mainly Sunni Arab district across the river from the Kadhimiya shrine that was the focus of Shia worship on Wednesday.
A barrage of mortar and rocket attacks on the crowd, some 200,000 strong or more, had added to the tension early in the day. It killed seven people and was claimed by a Sunni group avowing links to the insurgency against the US-backed, Shia-led government.
Then, a warning from within the crowd of a suicide bomber among them sparked a stampede. Most victims were women and children who died by drowning or being trampled, an Interior Ministry official said.