BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP):

Thunderous car bombs shattered a crowded marketplace in the heart of Baghdad yesterday, triggering secondary explosions, engulfing an eight-story building in flames and killing at least 78 people in the latest in a series of brutal bombings aimed at the country's Shiite majority.

The huge blasts appeared timed to coincide with the first anniversary (on the Muslim lunar calendar) of the bombing of a Shiite shrine that unleashed the torrent of sectarian bloodletting that has gripped the capital for months.

A 15-minute period of commemoration in the capital marking the attack on the al-Askariya shrine had just ended when the three parked cars exploded, obliterating shops and stalls selling clothing and accessories in one of the targeted buildings.

The sound of two of the blasts was caught on tape as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was delivering a speech live on television from the Cabinet building in the heavily fortified Green Zone at the end of the bombing commemoration.