Four journalists injured in apparent US attack
Four employees of the Reuters news agency were injured today when an American tank apparently fired a shell at Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel, the base for most foreign correspondents covering the war in the Iraqi capital.
Reuters spokeswoman in London Susan Allsopp said a reporter, a photographer, a cameraman and a technician were hurt in the blast and were rushed to hospital. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
American troops said snipers had been shooting at them from the roof of the high-rise building on the eastern banks of the River Tigris.
Abu Dhabi television showed a shell impact on a wall next to a balcony on the 14th floor of the hotel. It appeared to be a tank shell or a rocket.
Sky News’ correspondent at the hotel, David Chater, said he saw an American tank on a bridge over the river with its barrel pointed directly at the Palestine just before the explosion.
“They knew we were there … there was absolutely no mistake,” Chater said of the US forces.
Journalists fled to the courtyard, and American troops suggested that reporters hang white sheets out the window of their rooms.
US troops said they were taking fire from snipers in the hotel and could see men on the roof with binoculars surveying their positions.
Al-Jazeera television showed two people being carried on blankets through the lobby before being put in cars. One was soaked with blood.
One of the people carrying the wounded could be heard screaming: “I need a car. I need a car.” Reporters in bullet-proof vests were shown running down the corridors.
One female journalist tried to calm down another, who appeared distraught.
Soon after the hotel took tank fire, the US military agreed not to fire on the building.
Earlier today, an Al-Jazeera TV staff member was killed when its Baghdad office was hit during a US bombing campaign that another journalist said may have been deliberate.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Tareq Ayoub died after suffering serious wounds, the network said. The office was almost completely destroyed by two missiles and another cameraman was injured, it said.
The Abu Dhabi TV office in Baghdad was also targeted by US bombing, the station reported. A group of people were seen on television carrying a wounded man to a jeep belonging to Abu Dhabi TV. He was then rushed to hospital.
Officials at Abu Dhabi TV were not available for comment.
