The incident happened on a river bridge on Wednesday when a large number of Shiite pilgrims were making their way to a religious festival. The victims, mostly women and children, died when the crowd stampeded in reaction to rumors that there was a suicide bomber.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people were also reported fell into the Tigris river after the iron railings on the bridge gave way. It was the deadliest incident since the US-led war on Iraq in March 2003 and the Iraqi government has declared three days of mourning.