45 deaths, 105 wounded in Kirkuk blast – medic

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: The death toll of the Thursday’s suicide blast in Kirkuk rose to 45 deaths and 105 wounded, the director of the Kirkuk health department said on Friday. “A total of 45 persons were killed and 105 others were wounded, including four in a serious condition,” Sabah al-Daoudi told IraqiNews.com. “Two children and two women were among the bodies. Five wounded were sent to the Sulaimaniya hospitals and five others were sent to the Arbil hospitals,” he explained, The deadly explosion took place while the city was witnessing tight security measures in preparations for the visit of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. “The Kirkuk hospitals have all necessary medical equipments and the Red Cross will send today medial stuff to treat 100 wounded. Kirkuk, 250 km (156 miles) north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, sits on the ruins of a 5,000-year-old settlement. Because of the strategic geographical location of the city, Kirkuk was the battle ground for three empires, Assyria, Babylonia and Media which controlled the city at various times. Kirkuk is the centre of the northern Iraqi petroleum industry. It is a historically and ethnically mixed city populated by Assyrians, Kurds, Arabs and Iraqi Turkmen. The population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2008. SH (P) 1