The Hindu : Car bomb destroys hotel in Baghdad, 27 killed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 18, 2004

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Car bomb destroys hotel in Baghdad, 27 killed

BAGHDAD, MARCH 17. A car bomb destroyed a hotel in central Baghdad on Wednesday night, killing at least 27 people and injuring 41, the U.S. military said. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi ambulances rushed to the scene, and rescuers pulled out bodies from the rubble of the five-storey Hotel Jabal Lebanon, used mainly by Iraqis and Arabs. Many foreigners were staying in the hotel, said the owner of a nearby shop. Several more people were believed to still be trapped inside.

The explosion left a huge crater. Five smaller, adjacent buildings were badly damaged. Half a dozen dazed and injured people stumbled out from the wreckage. A father cradled his young daughter, who was limp in his arms. A witness said the neighbourhood was mixed, populated by Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds. ``They are ordinary families,'' he said. ``I don't know why this happened.''

Flames shot skyward, and heavy smoke rose behind a central square from the area of the blast. Trees were on fire, and flames spread to nearby buildings. Eight cars were on fire, and one vehicle was hurled by the blast into a store.

``It has to be a car bomb. No rocket could cause that amount of damage,'' said Heath Balick of the U.S. Army's First Armoured Division that is responsible for security in Baghdad. However, several residents said they believed a rocket caused the destruction. ``We saw the tail of a rocket, then we saw a big flash and heard a big boom,'' said a bystander. Dozens of U.S. soldiers in Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles arrived and started clearing crowds. Bricks, air-conditioners, furniture, wires and other debris were blown hundreds of metres from the hotel.

Earlier, two U.S. soldiers tried to help pull out bodies from the wreckage, but angry Iraqis pushed them away. The blast shook the nearby Palestine Hotel, where many foreign contractors and journalists are based.

AP, Reuters

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