At least seven people were killed and some 40 others were injured in a car bomb attack at a popular marketplace in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, a municipal police chief said.

"A car bomb ripped though the Hurriyah vegetable market in Kikruk City at about 12:15 p.m. (0815), killing at least seven people and wounding 40 others," Brigadier Burhan Wasif, police chief of Kirkuk city told Xinhua by telephone.

The blast damaged several civilian cars and nearby shops, he added.

Ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the scene to ferry the wounded people to hospitals, he said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces immediately cordoned off the area to secure the scene, he added.