NPR Staffers Narrowly Escape Bomb Blast
After its reporters and crew quickly escape a vehicle armed with a "sticky bomb," NPR thanks Iraqi authorities for the tip that led staff to safety
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/1/2008 3:52:00 AM MT
NPR says that a reporter and crewmembers were saved from a bomb attack in Iraq thanks to local officials and an informant.
According to an e-mail from NPR News foreign editor Loren Jenkins, correspondent Ivan Watson, Iraqi producer/translator Ali Hamdani, and two Iraqi drivers who asked not to be named, were returning to their vehicle after an interview in Baghdad when they were stopped by Iraqi soldiers screaming "bomb!"
Several seconds later, the armored vehicle in which they had been riding exploded, apparently from a so-called "sticky bomb" secured by magnets under the driver's side.
One suspect was arrested, and Iraqi officials said they had been tipped to the bomb by an informant.
"NPR is deeply grateful to the swift actions by Iraqi authorities today in Western Baghdad that prevented its American and Iraqi reporting team there from being injured in a bomb attack on their armored vehicle," said Jenkins.
