A bomb exploded Saturday in a Shiite district of Baghdad, killing 19 people and wounding 58 on the day that Iraq's incoming prime minister was to present his Cabinet to parliament for approval, police said.

Mourners carry the coffin of Abbas Kadhim, a member of the Al-Mahdi Army Shiite militia, who was killed by police on Thursday, according to funeral-goers, at his funeral in the town of Najaf in Iraq Friday, May 19, 2006. [AP]

The blast occurred at about 6:30 a.m. near a food stand in Sadr City where men gather to wait for jobs as day laborers, police Maj. Hashim al-Yaser said.

"It was a huge explosion," said Mohamed Hamid, who works in a bakery in the area. "We carried many of the injured to ambulances and helped remove the bodies."

Police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said 19 people were killed and 58 wounded. Many of the injured were rushed to nearby Imam Ali Hospital, where hallways were filled with doctors and nurses treating and bandaging the wounded.

The violence occurred ahead of a planned meeting of Iraq's parliament which was to approve the new Cabinet of Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki.

Approval of the Cabinet is the final stage in formation of a national unity government, which the United States hopes can calm the violence raging in the country more than three years after the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.