Multiple Blasts Rock Downtown Baghdad

(RFE/RL) 24 October 2005 -- Three explosions rocked central Baghdad today near hotels that house foreign reporters.
Reuters quotes Iraqi police as saying 11 people died in the blasts.

Two small blasts were followed by a massive explosion near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels that sent a huge cloud
of smoke into the sky.

Television footage shows shattered windows and falling debris from the 19-story Palestine Hotel.

(international agencies)