- News>
- World
Rockets fired at Baghdad hotel, Wolfowitz escapes
Baghdad, Oct 26: US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz had a narrow escape today when dozens of rockets were fired at the baghdad hotel where he was staying. One person has been killed and 15 others wounded in the attack.
Baghdad, Oct 26: US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz had a narrow escape today when dozens of rockets were fired at the baghdad hotel where he was staying. One person has been killed and 15 others wounded in the attack.
Twenty-nine rockets were fired at the landmark Rashid Hotel at around 6:00 am (0830 IST), killing one person and wounding 15 others, a top US military officer said.
"There were 16 casualties. One of them died," the officer said.
The wounded included civilians employed by the US Defence Department, soldiers and foreign nationals, he said.
Wolfowitz, who condemned the attack in a press conference soon afterwards, was unharmed. The hotel's windows were shattered and its hallways filled with smoke. Blood stained the floor and at least three bodies were carried out on stretchers.
"I saw three people being evacuated on stretchers into military ambulances," said Thomas Hartwell, a photographer hired by the coalition for a documentary project.
An Iraqi Police Colonel said two policemen were among the wounded.
The hotel, with 14 floors and 400 rooms, is in an area sealed off with heavy security inside the main centre of operation for the US-led coalition ruling Iraq. The attack occurred after a white GMC truck, with three passengers, pulled up to the Zawra Park 400 metres from the Rashid and dropped off a trailer, with a homemade rocket launcher disguised as a generator, the US officer said, citing the military's initial reports.
"They just dropped it off, they were able to get within 400 metres of the hotel," the officer said.
The assailants set off a timing device and left the trailer, with the rockets firing off no more than three to five minutes later, he said.
"There were 40 rockets total, 29 of them were fired and 11 rockets were left in the home-made rocket launcher," the officer said, without saying how many had hit the hotel.
"It was a combination of 85- and 68-millimetre rockets," he added.
A resident by the park said the blue trailer, with the launcher, was placed five metres from a cement barricade erected in the zone, which was sealed off to the public until yesterday, when the Americans reopened the area in a bid to restore normality. Bureau Report
"There were 16 casualties. One of them died," the officer said.
The wounded included civilians employed by the US Defence Department, soldiers and foreign nationals, he said.
Wolfowitz, who condemned the attack in a press conference soon afterwards, was unharmed. The hotel's windows were shattered and its hallways filled with smoke. Blood stained the floor and at least three bodies were carried out on stretchers.
"I saw three people being evacuated on stretchers into military ambulances," said Thomas Hartwell, a photographer hired by the coalition for a documentary project.
An Iraqi Police Colonel said two policemen were among the wounded.
The hotel, with 14 floors and 400 rooms, is in an area sealed off with heavy security inside the main centre of operation for the US-led coalition ruling Iraq. The attack occurred after a white GMC truck, with three passengers, pulled up to the Zawra Park 400 metres from the Rashid and dropped off a trailer, with a homemade rocket launcher disguised as a generator, the US officer said, citing the military's initial reports.
"They just dropped it off, they were able to get within 400 metres of the hotel," the officer said.
The assailants set off a timing device and left the trailer, with the rockets firing off no more than three to five minutes later, he said.
"There were 40 rockets total, 29 of them were fired and 11 rockets were left in the home-made rocket launcher," the officer said, without saying how many had hit the hotel.
"It was a combination of 85- and 68-millimetre rockets," he added.
A resident by the park said the blue trailer, with the launcher, was placed five metres from a cement barricade erected in the zone, which was sealed off to the public until yesterday, when the Americans reopened the area in a bid to restore normality. Bureau Report