More than 600 Iraqi Shi’ites died in a stampede over a Tigris River bridge in Baghdad yesterday, panicked by rumours a suicide bomber was about to blow himself up, an Interior Ministry source told Reuters. “Now it’s 640.”

Most of the dead in the bridge stampede were women and children, the source said. “Most were women and children. Most died by drowning or being trampled on.” He added that by 2 h15 pm (10 h 15 GMT) the death toll had risen to 647, with 301 injured.

Police and hospital sources earlier said at least 575 people had died in the stampede and 255 were injured. One hospital said it had received at least 100 bodies by 12 h30 (08 h 30 GMT). A hospital source said bodies were also being sent to two nearby hospitals.

A police source said swarming crowds had been heading to the Kadhimiya mosque in the old district of north Baghdad for a religious ceremony when someone yelled there was a suicide bomber among them.

“Hundreds of people started running and some threw themselves off the bridge into the river,” the source said. “Many elderly died immediately as a result of the stampede but dozens drowned, many bodies are still in the river and boats are working on picking them up.”

Earlier at least seven people were killed in three separate mortar attacks on the crowd as thousands of people marched to the mosque.

Tensions have been running high between the main religious and ethnic communities ahead of a referendum on a divisive new constitution for the post-Saddam Hussein era.

Parliament completed work on a draft constitution on Sunday and it must be approved by a popular mandate before Oct. 15 to come into force.

The crowd was celebrating the martyrdom of Musa Al-Kadhim, a revered religious figure among Shi’ites. Arab television channels showed footage of several bodies partially covered in white sheets on a hospital floor.

Doctors and orderlies were treating many of the injured on the floor or on trolleys in corridors. A child lay unconscious on a stretcher, with an intravenous drip dangling from her arm.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari declared three days of mourning, state television reported. “The Prime Minister has announced three days of mourning for the victims of this tragedy,” a television announcer said, reading a statement from Jaafari.

Explosions were heard across Baghdad yesterday morning. A Reuters correspondent reported hearing six mortar rounds exploding near the main airport, although the US military had no information of any attacks there.

<B>Persistent fighting</B>

Despite the draft constitution, there has been no easing in an insurgency waged by Sunni Muslims, dominant under Saddam, and international guerrillas inspired by Osama bin Laden.

The US-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003 and has been battling insurgents while Iraqis have tried to form a new post-Saddam constitution and government.

The persistent fighting has helped to push down President George W. Bush’s approval rating to a career low of 45 percent on concerns over the war and soaring fuel prices, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published on Tuesday.

The US war in Iraq now costs more per month than the average cost of military operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a report issued yesterday.

The report, entitled “The Iraq Quagmire” from the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus, both liberal, anti-war organisations, put the cost of operations in Iraq at $5.6 billion per month. This breaks down to almost $186 million a day.

“By comparison, the average cost of US operations in Vietnam over the eight-year war was $5.1 billion per month, adjusting for inflation,” it said.

<B>Sebastian ALISON</B>