At least 93 people have been killed in three car bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police and medics say.
The deadliest killed 84 people and wounded 87 in a market in the mainly Shia Muslim area of Sadr City.
The so-called Islamic State (IS) group claimed the attacks – the worst day of violence in Baghdad so far this year.
The Sunni jihadist group, which controls large swathes of northern and western Iraq, has frequently targeted Shia, whom it considers apostates.
The target of Wednesday’s first bombing was the busy market in Sadr City.
Police and witnesses said the explosives were hidden under fruit and vegetables loaded on a pick-up trick, reports the BBC
They said the driver disappeared after parking the vehicle in the market, shortly before the massive blast turned the area into an inferno.
“It was such a thunderous explosion that jolted the ground,” Karim Salih, a 45-year old grocer, told the Associated Press. “The force of the explosion threw me for meters away and I lost consciousness for a few minutes.”
Many victims were women inside a beauty salon, including several brides who appeared to be getting ready for their weddings, police sources told Reuters news agency. The bodies of two men believed to be grooms were found in an adjacent barber shop, they added.
