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BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Baghdad news bureau of U.S. broadcaster NBC has been hit by a bomb blast, killing one hotel staffer and wounding a station employee. The device went off at 0650 local time (0250 GMT) near a generator outside the al-Aike hotel, and killed the hotel's Somalian night manager, Col. Salman Kareem said. It was a "simultaneous flash and bang," said NBC's David Moodie, who sustained cuts to his forearm from the flying debris. "I immediately realized it was an explosive device. I pulled a blanket over me, threw myself on the floor to protect myself from more flying glass and falling plaster and other such things." NBC employees are not the only occupants of the three-story hotel, but their rooms were directly above the blast. "It's not the most secure building. It's on a fairly well-traveled street," Moodie said. "There's no sign saying 'NBC News,' but we've got our live position on the roof, and at night it's lit up like a Christmas tree." CNN's Michael Holmes said the blast left a hole 2 feet (0.5 meters) deep in the sidewalk. Coalition explosives experts are on the scene investigating. The explosion shook the upper-class Arrasat neighborhood in south-central Baghdad, blowing out windows in homes and businesses up to 100 meters (yards) away. Video from the scene showed extensive damage to the inside of the building, but only light damage to the exterior. The blast was the latest in a string of attacks in the capital. A suicide bombing Monday near the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad left an Iraqi security guard and the bomber dead. It was the second bombing in two months to target the U.N. headquarters in the Iraqi capital. (Full story) NBC had been told days before the blast that they should move their operation after having a risk assessment conducted on the hotel. The television network employed four security guards, two from a British firm and two Iraqis hired for night duty. |
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