The sound of the explosion travelled for more than a kilometre to al-Noor hospital, where the plaintive wails of the ambulances soon announced the arrival of the injured and the dead.
By late evening, the hospital had received 52 corpses, many mangled and charred, said al-Noor's director, Tariq Tahia.
Outside the gates, a coffin was handed up to a yellow lorry, where it was swiftly surrounded by the grief-stricken family of the victim.
Even for the battle-hardened doctors of al-Noor, who have endured three wars in a generation, the aftermath of last night's attack marked a fresh descent into horror.
"There were limbs torn off, and burns, multiple shrapnel injuries, head and chest injuries," said Tarif Jamil, a doctor on the casualty wards. "I saw about six children - all dead - and at least three women."
The Shawala neighbourhood, a collection of one-storey houses, lies at the southern extremes of Baghdad, far removed from the security installations and grotesque palaces of Saddam Hussein which have been the primary targets of US bombs.
Witnesses from the scene said there were no units of the Republican Guard among the market stalls, which were thronged with shoppers at 6.30 p.m.
"When the rockets came, the whole area became dark. For a few minutes, I couldn't see a thing," said Ikhlas Faiq (25), who was treated for shrapnel wounds to her shoulder. "Then I opened my eyes, and I saw bodies and parts of bodies everywhere I looked."
In the next bed, her niece, aged eight, was barely visible between the blankets and bandages. "It was a massacre," Ms Faiq said. "Simply that, a massacre."
- (Guardian Service)