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CNN Live At Daybreak
Car Bomb Explodes Near Police Academy in Baghdad
Aired September 02, 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: It is a more turbulent day than is usual in Iraq -- a bombing at an Iraqi police station and an American Humvee under attack. Two are dead.
Let's go live to Baghdad now and Rym Brahimi. She has the latest word on the latest explosion.
Good morning -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
A car bomb exploded right by a police station. Now, a major from the police has spoke to reporters a short while ago. He said that the car was parked right by the building of the police station, but there was a thick wall separating the building from the area where the car exploded. He says that's why there wasn't more serious damage done to the building.
He did say, though, that although they're not sure on how many casualties there are, there is at least one person that was injured in the blast.
Eyewitnesses and reporters who arrived at the scene shortly afterwards said that they saw a few people -- four or five people maybe -- being carried away. They looked injured. They also said that four cars around the car that exploded were severely damaged in that blast.
Now, you can see that the area has been cordoned off. There is Iraqi police there with a heavy presence of U.S. troops as well, and a few fire engines, although the smoke from the initial fire has died down -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym, before the explosion, were Americans providing security here, or were there any Americans inside?
BRAHIMI: Carol, it's not clear for the time being yet how many Americans, if there were any, were in or around that building. I know that typically a lot of police stations have been protected by U.S. military, or they usually have their precincts in the same area where there are U.S. troops. But I can't confirm that this was necessarily the case at that area in particular.
What I can tell you, though, is that it's an area where there would have been quite a few people, most of them former police officers, coming to pick up their salaries. The payday is actually on the 1st and 2nd of each month, so they would have been there to pick up their salaries. And also some of them come to look for jobs when they can -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi, thanks for the update, 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 September 2, 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: It is a more turbulent day than is usual in Iraq -- a bombing at an Iraqi police station and an American Humvee under attack. Two are dead.
Let's go live to Baghdad now and Rym Brahimi. She has the latest word on the latest explosion.
Good morning -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
A car bomb exploded right by a police station. Now, a major from the police has spoke to reporters a short while ago. He said that the car was parked right by the building of the police station, but there was a thick wall separating the building from the area where the car exploded. He says that's why there wasn't more serious damage done to the building.
He did say, though, that although they're not sure on how many casualties there are, there is at least one person that was injured in the blast.
Eyewitnesses and reporters who arrived at the scene shortly afterwards said that they saw a few people -- four or five people maybe -- being carried away. They looked injured. They also said that four cars around the car that exploded were severely damaged in that blast.
Now, you can see that the area has been cordoned off. There is Iraqi police there with a heavy presence of U.S. troops as well, and a few fire engines, although the smoke from the initial fire has died down -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym, before the explosion, were Americans providing security here, or were there any Americans inside?
BRAHIMI: Carol, it's not clear for the time being yet how many Americans, if there were any, were in or around that building. I know that typically a lot of police stations have been protected by U.S. military, or they usually have their precincts in the same area where there are U.S. troops. But I can't confirm that this was necessarily the case at that area in particular.
What I can tell you, though, is that it's an area where there would have been quite a few people, most of them former police officers, coming to pick up their salaries. The payday is actually on the 1st and 2nd of each month, so they would have been there to pick up their salaries. And also some of them come to look for jobs when they can -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi, thanks for the update, 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.
