BAGHDAD - Iraqi police say the death toll in a car bombing in a mainly Shiite section of Baghdad has risen to at least 51.

They say 75 people also have been wounded in Tuesday's attack in the northern neighbourhood of Hurriyah.

Witnesses say the car that exploded was parked near a two-storey building with shops on the bottom floor and residential apartments on top.

One officer says the death toll spiked after authorities extinguished the fire that had engulfed the building and found more bodies inside.