BAGHDAD, Iran - Two car bombings killed 38 people and injured at least 100 others in Baghdad Tuesday, police reported.

The first blast came from a minibus parked near a crowded market area at Tayaran Square, the Alalam Satellite TV network reported. Police said 23 bodies were recovered and 68 other people were hurt by shrapnel and blast injuries.

About an hour later in western Baghdad, a parked car exploded on a busy street and police said the death toll there was 15, with 36 others injured.

Elsewhere, the BBC reported gunmen abducted five British workers working with the Iraqi Finance Ministry at the ministry's headquarters.

Police said the kidnappers were dressed as Iraqi security personnel and forced a financial expert and four bodyguards at gunpoint into a car in a convoy of as many as 40 vehicles.

Britain's Foreign Office ordered an emergency meeting to review the abductions, the report said.

The U.S. military released a statement saying eight U.S. troops had been killed Monday in Diyala province northwest of Baghdad. One of the incidents involved a Kiowa helicopter downed by small arms fire, CNN said.

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