'People were blown apart'
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At least five Iraqis died in the restaurant bombing
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A car bomb rips through a Baghdad restaurant during New Year's Eve celebrations.
CNN's Satinder Bindra reports on violence in Baghdad and Kirkuk, Iraq.
CNN's Satinder Bindra on Iraqis' anger at insurgents.
CNN's Karl Penhaul on the Iraq Civil Defense Corps.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A witness said a guard outside a restaurant packed with people celebrating New Year's Eve shot at a suspicious car shortly before a huge blast destroyed the building Wednesday, killing at least five Iraqis and wounding at least a dozen other revelers.
"There was an explosion. The glass came flying. Everything else blew up. People were blown apart," said Basam Sarhan, a 25-year-old baker. He had been working in the kitchen at the back of the restaurant, near where the bomb hit. (Full story)
One witness, Ahmed Hassanain, said a white Toyota Corolla car drove by the area five or six times before the bombing. The last time it passed, he said, the guard at the restaurant shot at it. It drove away. Two minutes later, there was an explosion. He said he didn't know if it was the Corolla that blew up.
"These people are terrorists," Hassanain said. "Nobody here supports them."
After the evening explosion, sirens wailed and helicopters buzzed overhead as ambulances and U.S. soldiers converged on the Nabil restaurant, a popular spot with foreigners that had advertised a New Year's Eve party with live music and bellydancing.
An American soldier leaned into the rubble after discovering an injured victim. "She's got a pulse, she's got a pulse," he screamed.
Five Iraqis were killed, according to Lt. Gen. Ahmed Kadhem, deputy Iraqi interior minister and Baghdad chief of police. Several cars outside the restaurant were wrecked and in flames. Gunfire was heard after the explosion, which apparently left a large crater on a side street near the building.
"It was a car bomb. It went off in front of us. It was very powerful," a young boy told Associated Press Television News. He did not give his name.
Blood streaming down his face, a man named Khalil said: "I don't know what it was, whether it was a rocket or a bomb. Why did they have to do it to us?"
Police Brig. Hamid Alyasiry, who is in charge of Karrada, an upscale shopping and restaurant district where the blast occurred, confirmed that it was a car bomb. He said there were two foreign journalists in the restaurant, but did not identify them.
"The people who are carrying out such attacks do not discriminate about the place," Alyasiry said. "They want to frighten everyone to create terror."
Nabil Hanna, owner of the restaurant, said 50 people had booked for the party, including about a dozen foreigners, though Hanna was not at the restaurant at the time of the blast. Sarhan said there were about 25 people in the restaurant, including three or four foreigners.
The attack came amid tightened security in Baghdad over the holiday as military officials expected insurgent attacks. There were two other explosions earlier Wednesday near U.S. military convoys in the capital -- one a car bomb, the other a bomb hidden in bushes outside another restaurant.
Outside the restaurant, a young man and woman wept and hugged each other. The woman had blood on her face and shoulders. She said they were a family of six having New Year's dinner in the building next door when the blast ripped away the side wall. She said her uncle was taken to a hospital.
Inside Nabil, big round tables set for dinner were covered with food. A bottle of White Horse scotch was still standing but with the neck blown off.
U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police had stepped up security in Baghdad on Wednesday, erecting more razor wire and checkpoints in key areas. Military officials have reported the possibility of attacks by insurgents over the holiday period.
Copyright 2003 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
