Suicide bomber blows himself up inside bus filled with pilgrims, killing at least 27 people

A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a bus filled with pilgrims at a checkpoint outside the Iraqi city of Samarra on Saturday, killing at least 27 people.

"The suicide bomber quickly ran into the bus when it stopped at a checkpoint several kilometers (miles) outside Samarra, and detonated his vest inside the vehicle," the police official said.

"About 27 people were killed and about 20 were wounded," he said, giving a toll confirmed by hospital sources.

It was the deadliest single attack in Iraq since a January 27 car bomb ripped through a funeral ceremony in a Shiite district of Baghdad, killing 48 people.

Samarra, 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Baghdad, houses the gold-domed shrine of revered ninth century imam Hassan al-Askari which draws pilgrims from Iraq and round the world. Saturday marked the annual commemoration of his death.