The Al-Aimmah Bridge disaster (Arabic: كارثة جسر الائمة, lit. 'Bridge of the Imams disaster') occurred on August 31, 2005 when 965 people died following a panic, and subsequent crowd crush, on the Al-Aaimmah Bridge, which crosses the Tigris river in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
The incident was "the single biggest loss of Iraqi life since the US-led invasion in 2003".
Why this event still matters
Historical incidents shape the rules that protect people today — building codes, evacuation policy, warning systems and inspection regimes almost always trace back to a specific disaster. Studying 2005 Baghdad bridge stampede alongside current events is how preparedness improves.
See what is happening right now on the live world incident map, browse every stampedes we track on the Stampede / Crowd Crush tracker, or follow live incidents in Iraq.