Iraq’s main forensics laboratory in Baghdad has been destroyed by a car bomb, according to media reports.

At least 18 people have died and 80 been injured in the attack, which severely damaged the forensics lab at the Baghdad Police College.

“The building collapsed soon after the explosion. Dozens of people usually work in the institute,” an interior ministry official told AFP.

There have been two previous attacks on the lab, and most of the dead from this incident are believed to be staff (BBC, Long War).

The police college hosts Iraq’s forensics teaching laboratory as well as a working forensics department. Last month Raymond Odierno, commander of the US forces in Iraq, visited the facility. “We believe that a key component in furthering the Rule of Law in Iraq is the establishment of forensic labs and the training of police and those in the judiciary about the importance of the collection and analysis of physical evidence at crime scenes,” he later wrote.