WRAP Twin explosions kill at least 38, injure 45, police say ADDS hospital

(25 Oct 2009) 1. Wide of thick black smoke rising from the blast site 2. Various of smoke rising 3. Various of site where blasts occurred 4. Wide of emergency crew on site 5. Various of car wreckages 6. Emergency vehicles speeding along road, AUDIO: sirens 7. Injured man walking along road 8. Various exteriors of Ibn al-Nafis General Hospital where some of the injured were taken 9. Mid of hospital sign reading: (Arabic) "Ibn al-Nafis General Hospital" 10. Ambulance leaving 11. Wide of ward 12. Injured man being treated 13. Close of bandaged feet 14. Various of relatives in ward STORYLINE: Two powerful car bombs exploded in downtown Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 38 people in an apparent attempt to target the fragile city's government offices, Iraqi authorities said. While violence has dropped dramatically in the country since the height of the sectarian tensions, such bombings like Sunday's demonstrate the fragile nature of the security gains and the insurgency's abilities to still pull off devastating attacks in the heart of one of Baghdad's most secure areas. The blasts, which also injured 72, went off less than a minute apart near two prominent government institutions - the Ministry of Justice and the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration - during the morning rush hour. Iraqi police and hospital officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, put the death toll at 38, while a spokesman for the Baghdad Security Service, said 35 were killed in the blast. Such conflicting numbers are often common in the chaotic aftermath of such massive bombings. The explosions were caused by car bombs aimed at government institutions, the spokesman for the Baghdad Security Service said. He added that it was not known whether they were suicide attacks. A 24-year-old employee at the Baghdad provincial administration, said that after the first blast, dozens of employees began fleeing the building. Black smoke could be seen billowing from the area where the blasts occurred, as emergency service vehicles sped to the scene. Even civilian cars were being used to transport the wounded to hospitals, the spokesman for the Baghdad Security Service said. The explosions were just a few hundred yards from Iraq's Foreign Ministry which are still rebuilding after massive bombings there in August killed about 100 people. The bombings were a devastating blow for a country that has seen a dramatic drop in violence since the height of the sectarian tensions in 2006 and 2007. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...