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17
Killed, Including U.N. Envoy, In Baghdad Attack
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A
senior U.N. official said "de Mello is dead. He's in the
morgue"
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BAGHDAD,
August 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A massive car bomb
devastated U.N. headquarters in Baghdad Tuesday, August 19, killing at
least 17 people, including the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, and wounding
dozens of others.
U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan confirmed with "deepest regret"
the death of U.N. special representative for Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello
in the attack, the U.N. said in a statement.
"The
secretary general has to announce with deepest regret that it has been
confirmed Sergio Vieira de Mello was killed in this morning's attack on
the U.N. premises," spokesman Fred Eckhard said, noting that a
formal statement was forthcoming.
Earlier
a senior U.N. official had reported that "de Mello is dead. He's in
the morgue," reported Agence France-Presse.
The
blast, believed to have been ignited in a cement truck, turned an entire
side of the headquarters in the Canal Hotel into smoldering chunks of
concrete and triggered scenes of chaos.
"I
saw in front of me 13 dead," U.N. spokesperson Veronique Taveau
told AFP as she surveyed the late-afternoon attack.
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Rescue workers look through the rubble of the U.N. headquarters in
Baghdad
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Three
more people were reported dead and 53 wounded at five hospitals around
Baghdad, medical sources said.
A
police officer at the scene, who refused to give his name, said "I
carried out several bodies" and a steady traffic of blood-stained
bodies on stretchers was seen outside the U.N. building where some 300
people worked.
The
veteran Brazilian diplomat, 55, had been trapped in the remains of what
used to be his office.
De
Mello was in his office at the time of the blast and was attended to by
rescue workers.
A
U.N. spokesman in Baghdad, Salim Lone, told the BBC the blast took place
"right below" de Mello’s window.
"I
guess it was targeted for that.
"His
office and the offices around him no longer exist - it is all
rubble," Lone said.
Also
wounded was Benon Sevan, director of the U.N. oil-for-food program in
Iraq, who was holding a press conference when the bomb went, officials
said.
Eckhard
said the attack "is not only a personal tragedy but also a setback
for the U.N."
He
said U.N. officials were in contact with Annan, who is currently
vacationing in Finland.
Eckhard
said some 300 people work in the building but it was not clear how many
of them were in the office at the time of the attack.
"From
what we see on TV," he aid, "the damage is substantial. Human
suffering is great."
Car
Bomb
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U.S. soldiers and medical staff evacuate injured people outside the U.N.
headquarters
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U.N.
officials said the blast that rocked the world body office in Baghdad
was caused by a car bomb.
"I
saw a yellow cement truck crash into the wall of the Canal Hotel and
explode," said Fayez Sarhan, a U.N. employee.
Bernard
Kerik, a U.S.-hired adviser to the Iraqi interior ministry, said signs
pointed to "a suicide attack."
"It
might have been a suicide bomber. There is evidence that suggests
that," Kerik said at the site as firemen sprayed out fires inside
the compound, where a side of the U.N. building was reduced to a pile of
concrete blocks.
No
group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Scenes
of panic erupted outside the building after the explosion.
Television
footage showed soldiers combing the rubble to look for survivors trapped
in the wreckage while three American helicopters flew overhead. Several
vehicles at the scene were destroyed.
Plumes
of thick black smoke billowed from the site as U.S. troops attempted to
keep the crowd of Baghdadis and journalists from getting close.
Television
footage of Sevan's news conference seconds after the explosion showed
scenes of chaos, with members of the press and other people covered with
dust, debris and blood attempting to evacuate the building.
One
foreigner with blood dripping from his forehead could be seen trying to
organize the evacuation effort, as coughing and crying survivors were
attempting to run for safety.
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Click to watch video footage from inside the U.N. HQ:
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