Death toll rises to 132 in Baghdad twin bombings

Smokes are seen in a street in Baghdad on Sunday. Two truck bomb explosions killed at least 132 people and injured 512 others in central Baghdad on Sunday .(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The photo taken on Oct. 25, 2009 shows the site of a suicide attack near the building of Baghdad provincial council in Baghdad, capital of Iraq. (Xinhua/Gao Shan)

BAGHDAD, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from two truck bomb explosions in central Baghdad on Sunday rose to 132 with 512 people injured, an Interior Ministry source said.

"The latest reports said that up to 132 people were killed and some 512 others were injured by the two truck bombings in downtown Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Earlier the source put the toll at 62 killed and 180 injured by the blasts.

The first explosion took place at about 10:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives near the building of the Iraqi Ministry of Justice in Salhiyah district and blew it up, causing severe damages to the building and other surrounding buildings, the source said.

Shortly, a second truck bomb struck the building of Baghdad Provincial Council about 500 meters away from the first blast which is also close to the Mansour Hotel where many foreign media and companies live, the source added.

Xinhua correspondent at the scene said that he saw ponds of blood and parts of human bodies scattered close to the blast site near the Mansour Hotel where the wreckage of dozens of civilian cars could be seen near the site.

The blast also damaged water pipes, causing dirty water to flowout to the street, he said.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene and fire engines arrived to put out fires as columns of black smoke rise above the scene, he added.

The two attacks appeared to be the biggest since the deadly attacks on Aug. 19 when suicide truck bomb attacks targeted two Iraqi ministries, killing and wounding some 1,300 Iraqis.