Kufa (Iraq), July 18 (Reuters): A suicide bomber killed 59 people in a crowded Iraqi market today after luring Shia day labourers aboard his minivan with an offer of casual work.

The blast in Kufa, near Najaf, was one of the bloodiest attacks of the year and followed a gun and grenade attack on another market yesterday that killed a similar number. The explosion, some 50-100 metres from a golden-domed Shia shrine, tore through the minibus shortly after it had pulled out of the market with a group of labourers aboard.