Times writers hurt in Baghdad (updated)

Three L.A. Times reporters -- Tracy Wilkinson, Ann Simmons and Chris Kraul -- have been injured in a car bomb explosion outside a Baghdad nightclub that killed five Iraqis. The injuries to the Times writers, and to four local employees of the paper's Baghdad bureau, appear to be minor, managing editor Dean Baquet says. Memo at Romenesko.

Update 3:53 p.m.: Reuters says Wilkinson has called into the paper from a military hospital "apparently in good spirits."

11:30 p.m.: The Times staff story in tomorrow's paper carries the bylines of Wilkinson and Kraul. Those two and Simmons were hospitalized, the story says.

Thursday, 2:10 p.m.: Wilkinson and Simmons were released from the hospital this morning, the LAT reports. Kraul suffered hand and eye injuries and underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad. The death toll in the bombing has climbed to eight.