By Caitlin
Pike ABC news
anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt are recovering in
Washington’s Bethesda Naval Hospital after being caught in an Iraqi
roadside bomb blast last Saturday.
The two men had been embedded with the fourth infantry division for
two days and were part of a routine convoy with US and Iraqi security
forces. They were both wearing helmets and body armour as they stood up
in the back hatch of the vehicle in order to tape a video log of the
patrol when they were hit by the bomb blast.
They received
emergency medical attention in the green zone and were taken to a US
military hospital at Balad airbase in Iraq. From there, they were flown
to Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany. Doctors managed to stabilise
them in Germany, enabling them to fly to Washington on Tuesday to get
specialist care at Bethesda Hospital.
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Woodruff suffered head injuries. Vogt is conscious and able to communicate.
Speaking
on ABC News this week Woodruff’s brother David said: “The doctors said
at the beginning of this, this is not going to be a sprint, it’s going
to be a marathon and we’re all committed to making sure we’re there
running that marathon with him. We have to thank these guys that gave
him such incredible care. They saved his life.”
Woodruff was a
key part of the newly launched World News Tonight following the
premature death of anchor and ABC legend Peter Jennings in August last
year.
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Iraqi killed in clashes
CALL FOR INQUIRY
The
International Federation of Journalists has called on the US military
to investigate the killing of an Iraqi television correspondent during
clashes between US forces and Sunni rebels in Ramadi.
Mahmoud
Za’al, 35, a cameraman and reporter for the Iraqi television station
Baghdad TV, was shot in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, while
working on a social documentary. According to local reports, Za’al was
allegedly shot in a crossfire between US forces and insurgents and his
body was hurried to the forensic unit in Baghdad hospital by the
security services.
“The US forces must confirm their role in our
colleague’s killing and investigate immediately any possibility of the
military’s responsibility in his death,”
said Aidan White, IFJ general secretary.
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