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BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 19 -- A suicide bomber drove a gleaming new cement
mixer full of explosives into the side of the United Nations compound
here today and blew it up, killing 17 people and wounding at least 100
in an attack on one of the principal agencies in charge of rebuilding
Iraq.
The bomb demolished the three-story converted hotel that served as the
United Nations headquarters, scattering the wounded and the remains of
the dead. United Nations employees, many of them recently flown in from
Europe and the United States, crawled and ran from the wreckage, their
clothes torn and splattered with blood. Many were delirious, calling out
to friends and colleagues left in the rubble behind.
Among the dead was Sergio Vieira de Mello, 55, the United Nations
secretary general's special representative in Iraq. Mr. Vieira de
Mello's body was pulled from the wreckage tonight by American soldiers.
The compound was filled with hundreds of people
responsible for an array of relief duties: repairing the country's
electrical system, finding homes for refugees and delivering food. When
the bomber crashed through the wall at 4:30 p.m., employees were holding
a news conference to discuss their efforts to defuse the thousands of
land mines buried across the country.
The GCP prediction is based on the combination of shock and compassion
for the victims, and the feeling of dismay that good and generous people
intent on creating a better life for the Iraqi people were killed in
this tragic episode in a continuing war of ideologies.
The prediction period begins at 3:30 pm and continues for 6 hours to
9:30 local time (11:30 to 17:30 GMT).
The formal analysis has Chisquare of 21692 on 21600 df and p = 0.327.
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