Smoke rises after a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada district July 26, 2007. Twenty people were killed and 60 others were wounded when a parked car bomb exploded near an intersection in the central Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite district on Thursday, Iraqi police said. [Photo: Reuters]

The death toll from central Baghdad car bomb explosion rose to 25 and 77 people wounded, while Iraqi police collected 20 bodies on Thursday, An Interior Ministry source said.

"The final reports about the car bomb attack in Karradah settled on 25 people killed and 77 others wounded," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

A car bomb went off at about 6:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) in a crowded thoroughfare near the Saba Qsour Intersection in Karradah neighborhood, the source said.

The powerful blast set a nearby building on fire and destroyed several civilian cars and shops, the source added.

In addition, Iraqi police patrols picked up 17 unidentified bodies from Baghdad's streets, including 15 in the Karkh area on the west part of the Tigris River that bisect the Iraqi capital, the source said.

The bullet-riddled bodies were bound, blindfolded and showing signs of torture, he said.

Violence and gruesome finding of unidentified bodies continued in the capital despite more than five months of U.S. and Iraqi security plan aiming at putting rampant violence under control.