At least 16 people have been killed in a bombing in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a key centre of Iraq's oil industry.

More than 50 people were wounded in the explosion near al-Rafidain bank in the centre of the city, police say.

Many of the victims were said to be civil servants waiting to receive their monthly salary.

A local police chief, Colonel Shirzad Abdullah, told the AFP news agency that the bomb had been placed in a wooden market pushcart near the bank.

Victims also included elderly people and child street vendors selling food, police said.

Aftermath

The explosion took place near a bridge over the road, and people were killed both on the bridge and on the ground, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The blast set at least two nearby cars on fire and sent glass and rubble flying into the street.

At least one report says bodies are trapped under the rubble.

The bombing came a day after four separate attacks killed at least 11 people in Iraq.

More than 900 people, mostly Iraqis, have died in insurgent attacks across the country since the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafaari took office six weeks ago.

Kirkuk, 290km (180miles) north of Baghdad, is divided between ethnic Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen and has been the scene of ethnic tensions.