Deadly attack on Iraqi hotel

2005-10-24 17:39

Baghdad - At least two enormous bombs, one of them a cement-mixing truck packed with explosives, blew up outside the Palestine Hotel - home to many foreign journalists in Iraq - killing at least 17 people and wounding at least 13 others, Iraqi police said.

At least one of the bombs appeared to have gone off at an Iraqi police checkpoint on the northeast side of Firdous Square adjacent to the hotel compound.

Associated Press Television News pictures showed the cement mixer exploding in a huge ball of flame and a cloud of smoke billowing into the central Baghdad sky.

The exploding cement truck blew a hole in a 12-foot concrete wall that separates the hotel from the square where an enormous statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled after United States troops captured the Iraqi capital on April 9 2003.

US soldiers maintain a presence inside the hotel compound. Afterward they increased their numbers on the perimeter of the compound, which also includes the Sheraton Hotel.

Security sources said the explosions occurred two minutes apart, not long before Muslims marking Ramadan were preparing to break their day-long fast.

An AP photographer at a checkpoint at the northwest corner of the hotel said at least three fellow photographers from other media were injured and taken away by ambulance.

Three AP television personnel inside the hotel sustained minor injuries.

The death toll of 11 was reported by the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera and the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya networks, quoting Iraqi security officials.

The bombers did not penetrate the concrete blast walls around the Palestine Hotel, which was last hit by an insurgent rocket attack on October 7 2004.

There was considerable damage to the windows and rooms on the south side of the 19-storey hotel. TV pictures showed a huge cloud of smoke rising from the scene and debris falling from the building.

After the bombing, Iraqi forces opened up with heavy automatic weapons fire, apparently firing at random. There was no sign of a further assault on the hotel.

Major Abbas Mohammed Suleiman said the hotel compound was hit by rockets and car bombs.

The Associated Press journalists had to evacuate their bureau in the hotel and take refuge in the corridor.

Inside the hotel, light fixtures were blown down, pictures were blasted off the walls and windows were shattered.

- AP