By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent
from YAHOO! NEWS

MAHMOUDIYA, Iraq - An apparent suicide car bomber took aim at a U.S. convoy carrying demolition experts on Sunday, collapsing a major highway overpass south of Baghdad and trapping American soldiers in the rubble.

The vehicle detonated beside a support pillar, bringing down an Army checkpoint and a tent that had been on the collapsing span, dubbed “Checkpoint 20″ by the U.S. military. The overpass, one of two crossing over Iraq’s main north’south highway in the region, appeared to be closed to all but military traffic at the time.

A U.S. Army quick reaction force and the staff of Armor Group International, a private security firm that was in charge of the passing convoy, worked for some 45 minutes to pull trapped men from the rubble about six miles east of Mahmoudiya.

There appeared to be several casualties, including an Iraqi interpreter who was wounded, according to Donald Campbell, an official with the security firm who was at the scene.

The attack, which was witnessed by an Associated Press reporter and a photographer who were in the approaching convoy, occurred in the triangle of death, so called for frequent Sunni insurgent attacks.

On May 12, three U.S. soldiers were captured in an ambush near Mahmoudiya that left five other soldiers, including an Iraqi dead. An al-Qaida front group the Islamic State of Iraq issued a video last week claiming the three missing troops had been killed, but the U.S. military said it would not accept that and was continuing with its search.

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