Car bomb explodes next to U.S. convoy in Iraq capital, hospital officials say

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ A car bomb exploded next to a U.S. convoy west of the capital, killing at least one Iraqi and wounding eight, hospital officials and survivors said Thursday. <br/><br/>The attack happened

Thursday, October 14th 2004, 6:36 am

By: News On 6

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ A car bomb exploded next to a U.S. convoy west of the capital, killing at least one Iraqi and wounding eight, hospital officials and survivors said Thursday.

The attack happened Wednesday in Khan Dhari, 20 miles west of Baghdad, said Abbas al-Timimi, director of the nearby Abu Ghraib Hospital, which treated the wounded.

``A car bomb exploded as the Americans passed by and then the Americans opened fire,'' one of the injured, Ali Sada, told Associated Press Television News in the hospital, his left leg in a bloody cast.

Footage of the blast obtained by APTN showed a white, hatchback car exploding near a pair of treaded, armored American vehicles, one with at least two servicemembers exposed in the gun turret. U.S. forces could later be seen securing the blast site.

U.S. military officials had no information about the attack Thursday.

On Thursday, only the exploded vehicle's frame remained and children scoured the wreckage for salvageable material. A punctured car wheel lay on the ground, apparently thrown from the blast.