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CNN Live Sunday
Unexploded Cluster Bombs Still Kill, Maim Iraqis
Aired April 20, 2003 - 17:42 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.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Long after the big guns fall silent, the remnants of war claim many lives and maim unsuspecting children.
ITN's Andrea Catherwood looks at the war's dangerous leftovers. And we warn you, some of these picture are pretty upsetting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA CATHERWOOD, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three brothers lie maimed in three hospital beds. A fourth brother died of his injuries. This was the work of a cluster bomb. Designed to decimate an army in open country, cluster bombs do the same to children in their homes. No precision here. Each bomb scatters up to 300 deadly bomblets, spread over an area the size of two football pictures or one village.
Here in the village of Nada (ph), 160 people were injured, at least 20 killed in one night, among them, the father of 6-week-old Omar. But the horrors and the dangers of these devices are not over. Cluster bombs are notorious for failing to detonate. We find the village of Latifah (ph) littered with bomblets that haven't gone off yet.
(on camera): That little gray cylinder in front of me is an unexploded cluster bomb. It may look quite innocuous, but if you were to stand on it or if a curious child were to pick it up, it could be deadly.
(voice-over): A few days ago, a toddler was killed. She was playing with a bomblet. Fourteen-year-old Ahmed is one of ten children injured while they played football. His friend kicked what he thought was a battery, three cluster bombs exploded. There is even a live unexploded cluster bomb in the ceiling of this living room.
These are the bombs America said it wouldn't use in residential areas. Homes like these tell a different story. Kassan (ph), a law student, tells me he asked passing American soldiers to help with the unexploded bombs. They said it wasn't their job.
Hospitals are filling up with newly injured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He find this cluster, he just hold it, and it exploded.
CATHERWOOD: Officially, the U.S. says eliminating unexploded ordnance could take some time. Each day, there will be less to clear. Children like Mustafah injured yesterday will find them first.
Andrea Catherwood, ITV News, Nada (ph), central 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 April 20, 2003 - 17:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Long after the big guns fall silent, the remnants of war claim many lives and maim unsuspecting children.
ITN's Andrea Catherwood looks at the war's dangerous leftovers. And we warn you, some of these picture are pretty upsetting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA CATHERWOOD, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three brothers lie maimed in three hospital beds. A fourth brother died of his injuries. This was the work of a cluster bomb. Designed to decimate an army in open country, cluster bombs do the same to children in their homes. No precision here. Each bomb scatters up to 300 deadly bomblets, spread over an area the size of two football pictures or one village.
Here in the village of Nada (ph), 160 people were injured, at least 20 killed in one night, among them, the father of 6-week-old Omar. But the horrors and the dangers of these devices are not over. Cluster bombs are notorious for failing to detonate. We find the village of Latifah (ph) littered with bomblets that haven't gone off yet.
(on camera): That little gray cylinder in front of me is an unexploded cluster bomb. It may look quite innocuous, but if you were to stand on it or if a curious child were to pick it up, it could be deadly.
(voice-over): A few days ago, a toddler was killed. She was playing with a bomblet. Fourteen-year-old Ahmed is one of ten children injured while they played football. His friend kicked what he thought was a battery, three cluster bombs exploded. There is even a live unexploded cluster bomb in the ceiling of this living room.
These are the bombs America said it wouldn't use in residential areas. Homes like these tell a different story. Kassan (ph), a law student, tells me he asked passing American soldiers to help with the unexploded bombs. They said it wasn't their job.
Hospitals are filling up with newly injured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He find this cluster, he just hold it, and it exploded.
CATHERWOOD: Officially, the U.S. says eliminating unexploded ordnance could take some time. Each day, there will be less to clear. Children like Mustafah injured yesterday will find them first.
Andrea Catherwood, ITV News, Nada (ph), central 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
