In what appeared to be the deadliest single attack after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, a suicide car bomber killed more than 100 government job hopefuls on Monday.

The attack dealt a heavy blow to the interim government, which hailed as a victory the capture of Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a half-brother of Saddam and suspected key coordinator of insurgency in Iraq.

More than 200 others were wounded in the powerful bombing, which rattled Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, a spokeswoman for the Iraqi Red Crescent told Xinhua.

Ambulances and medical equipment were called in from Baghdad due to a sudden shortage of emergency stuff after the blast, she noted.

The explosive-laden vehicle ran into a large crowd of people who were lining in front of a health center for physical checkup to work for the state, said Adnan Abdul-Rahman, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

The bomb was detonated around 9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) when the street was also packed with passers-by, he added. Wreckage and human parts bestrewed the area and the street was sprayed with blood.

It remained unclear how many among the victims were would-be police recruits or civil servants, both of whom came under frequent attacks by insurgents.

Hilla, a mainly Shiite city, is the capital of Babil Province, situated within the notorious "death triangle", where rebels were among the most active in Iraq.

Police there often join the US-led multinational forces in raiding rebel hide-outs along the Euphrates river across the triangle.

Source: Xinhua