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Ramadi (Iraq): A powerful explosion killed at least seven Iraqi police recruits and injured 54 others, as they marched in a graduation ceremony on July 5 in the tense Western city of Ramadi, littering the street with blood, debris and shreds of clothing, witnesses and hospital officials said.

The blast in Ramadi, 95 kms West of Baghdad, occurred as the police were marching from a local boys' school, where they had undergone a five-day US led training course, to a nearby government building, said Mahmoud Hamad, a 23-year-old survivor with injuries to his right arm and leg, speaking from a gurney at nearby Ramadi General Hospital.

"Beside my injuries, I can't hear anymore," Hamad said.

Dr Irfan Abdul Razzak said in addition to the dead, 15 victims were undergoing emergency surgery. The hospital's entire emergency ward was covered in blood, and victims filled the corridors waiting for treatment.

"The entire staff is coming to the hospital," Razzak said. Calls for blood donations went out over the loudspeakers of mosques in the town.

Outside, scores of relatives waited for news of their loved ones. Women in black 'chadoors' beat their heads in anguish, many sobbing and screaming.

Witnesses said the eight US instructors were not present at the time of the blast, and that they did not think any Americans were among those killed or injured.

"The explosion was so loud it was heard all over the city," said Iraqi police lieutenant Hamed Ali.

Agencies