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CNN Live At Daybreak
Search Continues for More Bodies
Aired August 20, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Search teams are still looking for bodies in the rubble of the U.N. office in Baghdad. At least 17 are dead, and there may be more.
A bomb-laden cement truck was driven through a wire fence and into the side of the Canal Hotel. It exploded, blowing out a section of the building. At least 100 are now wounded in the boldest attack since President Bush declared the end of major combat.
Among those killed was the U.N.'s top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. He was trapped in the rabble -- in the rubble, rather, for several hours before he died.
Shortly after the blast, the blue and white United Nations flag was lowered to half-staff at U.N. headquarters in New York, and this morning all of the national flags that ring the building are gone from their poles.
With the sadness, though, comes defiance. The U.N. will not leave Iraq. Kofi Annan, the secretary-general, spoke to reporters a short time ago in Stockholm. He says the U.N.'s work will continue. And, no, he does not know who is responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I do not know who they are, and I don't know what their causes and which God they pray to, but what they did yesterday will not serve their cause nor their God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, who is to blame for the so-called chaos strategy in Iraq? That remains an open question this morning. Right now, emotions rule the day, as family members from around the world call to see if their loved ones are OK.
Live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi.
You've been talking to survivors today. What are they telling you?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, what we've been hearing is, as you mentioned, that there have been indeed relatives calling from all over the world. Fifty percent of the workers from the United Nations working in that building are international staff. That means the other half were Iraqi local workers, and their relatives have been pouring into this area, trying to gain access, but not very successful at that, because the area has been totally cordoned off.
Now, I spoke to Salim Lone, the spokesman of Sergio de Mello. He's definitely a survivor, if you will. He was in an office that was not very far from the area that you see has collapsed totally in the bombing, and he says that there are still a lot of people that they are -- pardon me -- they are evacuating for now the injured to neighboring Amman. That said, we do hear that not everybody has been accounted for.
I'd just like to mention one thing, Carol. You were mentioning the search for bodies. That's happening also right behind me there with two U.S. military units actually working with bulldozers and very heavy machinery to get that done. But just a short moment ago, we saw a group of people actually pulling a body out. It's not clear whether that was a live person or a dead person, but they were definitely pulling a body out on a stretcher -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired August 20, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Search teams are still looking for bodies in the rubble of the U.N. office in Baghdad. At least 17 are dead, and there may be more.
A bomb-laden cement truck was driven through a wire fence and into the side of the Canal Hotel. It exploded, blowing out a section of the building. At least 100 are now wounded in the boldest attack since President Bush declared the end of major combat.
Among those killed was the U.N.'s top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. He was trapped in the rabble -- in the rubble, rather, for several hours before he died.
Shortly after the blast, the blue and white United Nations flag was lowered to half-staff at U.N. headquarters in New York, and this morning all of the national flags that ring the building are gone from their poles.
With the sadness, though, comes defiance. The U.N. will not leave Iraq. Kofi Annan, the secretary-general, spoke to reporters a short time ago in Stockholm. He says the U.N.'s work will continue. And, no, he does not know who is responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I do not know who they are, and I don't know what their causes and which God they pray to, but what they did yesterday will not serve their cause nor their God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, who is to blame for the so-called chaos strategy in Iraq? That remains an open question this morning. Right now, emotions rule the day, as family members from around the world call to see if their loved ones are OK.
Live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi.
You've been talking to survivors today. What are they telling you?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, what we've been hearing is, as you mentioned, that there have been indeed relatives calling from all over the world. Fifty percent of the workers from the United Nations working in that building are international staff. That means the other half were Iraqi local workers, and their relatives have been pouring into this area, trying to gain access, but not very successful at that, because the area has been totally cordoned off.
Now, I spoke to Salim Lone, the spokesman of Sergio de Mello. He's definitely a survivor, if you will. He was in an office that was not very far from the area that you see has collapsed totally in the bombing, and he says that there are still a lot of people that they are -- pardon me -- they are evacuating for now the injured to neighboring Amman. That said, we do hear that not everybody has been accounted for.
I'd just like to mention one thing, Carol. You were mentioning the search for bodies. That's happening also right behind me there with two U.S. military units actually working with bulldozers and very heavy machinery to get that done. But just a short moment ago, we saw a group of people actually pulling a body out. It's not clear whether that was a live person or a dead person, but they were definitely pulling a body out on a stretcher -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
