BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BNO NEWS) -- At least eight people were killed on Friday and dozens more were injured when a car bomb exploded during a funeral ceremony in central Iraq, officials said on Saturday.

The attack happened on Friday evening near the tomb of Prophet Ayoub in Hilla, the capital of Iraq's Babil province and about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Baghdad. The funeral ceremony was held to mourn the death of a relative of a judge at Babil's Appeal Court.

There were conflicting reports about the number of casualties, but medical officials said at least eight people were killed while more than 60 others were injured. Hospitals in the area were overwhelmed by the number of injured, some of whom were critically injured.

The judge as well as several provincial officials had left the gathering only minutes before the attack. It is unclear if they were the target of the attack, but Hilla is a Shiite town and authorities are not ruling out that the explosion may have been part of the increasing number of sectarian attacks against Shiites.

Last Sunday, at least 15 people were killed and more than 80 others were wounded in the Shiite town of Karbala during a series of bomb explosions outside a government office.

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