Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Erbil Bombings

Aired February 02, 2004 - 15:11   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll rises to 67 from yesterday's attacks at two Kurdish party offices in Iraq. Suicide bombings ripped apart the buildings, but they appear to have unified rival parties, at least for now.
CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf takes us inside the carnage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: This should have been a scene of celebration. This was a meeting hall in the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. It was packed with hundreds of well- wishers who came on the start of a religious holiday to bid congratulations. Congratulations to Kurdish officials here. Instead, it ended in tragedy.

A huge bomb, explosives strapped to someone poising as a well- wisher, exploded here. Now, people here say dozens were killed and many more wounded. Even today, many hours later, they're still sorting through this debris. Sorting through the charred timbers, the shattered glass, and all the remains of what was a celebration, to find pieces of what they say were their loved ones.

These men with plastic bags picking up human remains that are still everywhere, hours later. A sign of the scale of the explosives that went off.

Now, Kurdish officials say these were very sophisticated explosives. And it wasn't just here, but across town, as well, at the other main Kurdish office, a simultaneous explosion. The blast so hard outside shattered the windows of cars and flung body parts meters away.

And not just the explosion, not just the force of the explosion is what has people in shock. It's the significance of all of this. The significance of something so deadly. In fact, one of the deadliest blasts since the end of the war coming to a part of the country that was until now quite stable.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Erbil in northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 February 2, 2004 - 15:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll rises to 67 from yesterday's attacks at two Kurdish party offices in Iraq. Suicide bombings ripped apart the buildings, but they appear to have unified rival parties, at least for now.
CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf takes us inside the carnage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: This should have been a scene of celebration. This was a meeting hall in the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. It was packed with hundreds of well- wishers who came on the start of a religious holiday to bid congratulations. Congratulations to Kurdish officials here. Instead, it ended in tragedy.

A huge bomb, explosives strapped to someone poising as a well- wisher, exploded here. Now, people here say dozens were killed and many more wounded. Even today, many hours later, they're still sorting through this debris. Sorting through the charred timbers, the shattered glass, and all the remains of what was a celebration, to find pieces of what they say were their loved ones.

These men with plastic bags picking up human remains that are still everywhere, hours later. A sign of the scale of the explosives that went off.

Now, Kurdish officials say these were very sophisticated explosives. And it wasn't just here, but across town, as well, at the other main Kurdish office, a simultaneous explosion. The blast so hard outside shattered the windows of cars and flung body parts meters away.

And not just the explosion, not just the force of the explosion is what has people in shock. It's the significance of all of this. The significance of something so deadly. In fact, one of the deadliest blasts since the end of the war coming to a part of the country that was until now quite stable.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Erbil in northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com