Iraqi jet bombs Baghdad district by mistake, five killed

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BAGHDAD: 

An Iraqi plane accidentally dropped a bomb on an eastern Baghdad neighborhood on Monday, police and residents said, killing at least five people and destroying several houses.

The Sukhoi jet had been taking part in an air strike against Islamic State militants, Iraqi television said. One of its bombs failed to detach from the plane during the mission then fell as the plane was returning to base.

Police in the Ni’riya neighborhood of eastern Baghdad put the death toll at five, although some residents said seven people died.

A crowd gathered at the site after the explosion, picking through twisted metal and concrete rubble as an ambulance tried to take the wounded to hospital.