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American Morning
Investigators Search for Clues in Bombing of U.N. Headquarters
Aired August 20, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq again for the search for answers today, after a day of terror in that city. At least 17 people, including the U.N.'s top envoy in Iraq, killed in a truck bombing at the U.N. headquarters yesterday. In, fact, it happened about 22 hours ago.
Today on the scene Rym Brahimi is back with us live.
Rym -- what are they saying now? Is there anyone still trapped or unaccounted for inside the building behind you?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, you know, just a little over an hour ago, we saw a group of rescue or maybe research teams. They actually pulled out a body from the rubble that you can see behind me there. We don't know whether the body was the body of a person alive or dead. All we saw were people carrying somebody on a stretcher from underneath the rubble.
Since this morning, Bill, teams -- U.S. military units have been hard at work trying to sift through all of this rubble, all of this debris, trying to find a way to figure out if there is anybody left. We do know that not everybody has been accounted for, so we're still being told that at least 17 people are dead and close to 100 injured.
A lot of relatives of U.N. workers that are Iraqis were trying to get access to this area, but it's been cordoned off. They didn't know whether their relatives had been injured or were killed, and they didn't know where they would have been taken.
But we do know by now that the injured have been taken to Jordan, neighboring Jordan, for treatment.
Now, just to give you an idea of what happened, again, here, this was a huge explosion, one of the biggest attacks against the United Nations and certainly one of the biggest in Iraq since the end of the war.
I spoke to somebody who was actually in the building when this happened. Here is Michael Birmingham, and let's listen to what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BIRMINGHAM, SURVIVOR OF ATTACK: In the corridor where I walked out into, there were people with, of course, really terrible injuries, some unconscious, some who were conscious and not able to move but in great pain. It was just a horrible scene. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: I've been speaking, Bill, to some people who are lucky to be alive, and they all described pretty much the same thing -- this blackout, no power, and then emerging basically through rubble and a very hazy picture of people, you know, walking around with blood, a lot of chaos and confusion, people wondering what had happened there -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, what is the security of that compound like today?
BRAHIMI: Well, right now, as I was mentioning, you can see the area behind me. There is just U.S. military equipment. It's totally been cordoned off, because in addition to basically the search operations that are taking place, there is a forensics team there. There's also an investigative team that's been trying to, of course, find clues as to who would have perpetrated such an attack.
Now, a lot of the people who were trying to get access weren't able to get access, including most of the U.N. workers. Only a few U.N. security people were allowed in that building, and so basically no one can enter basically at 500 meters from there.
All morning also, there were helicopters hovering in the sky, patrolling this entire neighborhood. That seems to have slowed down right now. But, again, a very tense situation around the building here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi live in Baghdad there at the scene.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Headquarters>
Aired August 20, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq again for the search for answers today, after a day of terror in that city. At least 17 people, including the U.N.'s top envoy in Iraq, killed in a truck bombing at the U.N. headquarters yesterday. In, fact, it happened about 22 hours ago.
Today on the scene Rym Brahimi is back with us live.
Rym -- what are they saying now? Is there anyone still trapped or unaccounted for inside the building behind you?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, you know, just a little over an hour ago, we saw a group of rescue or maybe research teams. They actually pulled out a body from the rubble that you can see behind me there. We don't know whether the body was the body of a person alive or dead. All we saw were people carrying somebody on a stretcher from underneath the rubble.
Since this morning, Bill, teams -- U.S. military units have been hard at work trying to sift through all of this rubble, all of this debris, trying to find a way to figure out if there is anybody left. We do know that not everybody has been accounted for, so we're still being told that at least 17 people are dead and close to 100 injured.
A lot of relatives of U.N. workers that are Iraqis were trying to get access to this area, but it's been cordoned off. They didn't know whether their relatives had been injured or were killed, and they didn't know where they would have been taken.
But we do know by now that the injured have been taken to Jordan, neighboring Jordan, for treatment.
Now, just to give you an idea of what happened, again, here, this was a huge explosion, one of the biggest attacks against the United Nations and certainly one of the biggest in Iraq since the end of the war.
I spoke to somebody who was actually in the building when this happened. Here is Michael Birmingham, and let's listen to what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BIRMINGHAM, SURVIVOR OF ATTACK: In the corridor where I walked out into, there were people with, of course, really terrible injuries, some unconscious, some who were conscious and not able to move but in great pain. It was just a horrible scene. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: I've been speaking, Bill, to some people who are lucky to be alive, and they all described pretty much the same thing -- this blackout, no power, and then emerging basically through rubble and a very hazy picture of people, you know, walking around with blood, a lot of chaos and confusion, people wondering what had happened there -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, what is the security of that compound like today?
BRAHIMI: Well, right now, as I was mentioning, you can see the area behind me. There is just U.S. military equipment. It's totally been cordoned off, because in addition to basically the search operations that are taking place, there is a forensics team there. There's also an investigative team that's been trying to, of course, find clues as to who would have perpetrated such an attack.
Now, a lot of the people who were trying to get access weren't able to get access, including most of the U.N. workers. Only a few U.N. security people were allowed in that building, and so basically no one can enter basically at 500 meters from there.
All morning also, there were helicopters hovering in the sky, patrolling this entire neighborhood. That seems to have slowed down right now. But, again, a very tense situation around the building here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi live in Baghdad there at the scene.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Headquarters>
