A car bomb exploded outside a police station in this town south of Baghdad today, killing at least 50 people and wounding about 100, a hospital official said.
Earlier the head of the Iraqi police force, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim, put the death toll at 35, with up to 45 people wounded.
General Ibrahim and another officer confirmed that the blast was the work of a suicide bomber, but they were not sure how many people were in the car.
The deadly incident was seen as the latest in a string of attacks by insurgents against Iraqis considered collaborators with occupying coalition forces.
The dead and wounded apparently were civilians who were standing waiting to apply for police jobs, officials said. No policemen were killed, a local officer said, but nine policemen were believed to have been wounded.
Huge, angry crowds gathered outside the site of the blast and tried to loot the station. They were dispersed by gunfire, throwing stones at a police truck, shattering a window.
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