A suicide car bomb has exploded across the street from a children's hospital in the Iraqi city of Hilla, killing at least twenty six people and wounding sixty nine.

Some of the wounded had serious injuries, including severe burns.

The blast also destroyed 15 vehicles and about 20 nearby shops.

The bombing in a mostly Shiite town came hours before the US ambassador to Iraq and his Iranian counterpart met in a second round of face-to-face talks aimed at controlling Iraq's spiralling violence.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the bombing, but in the past such attacks have been blamed on Sunni insurgent groups such as Al-Qaeda.