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One dead in Baghdad shelter collapse
A woman was killed and eight other people were hurt when a homeless shelter run by Iraq's largest Shia Muslim political group collapsed. Officials from the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) have blamed Friday morning's disaster on a bomb attack, but a senior US military officer said a structural defect was to the culprit. The west Baghdad building, which also houses a religious school, collapsed on to families sleeping in the compound. SCIRI spokesman Mohsin al-Hakim said an explosion had been detonated by remote control. "We were asleep and suddenly about five o'clock in the morning the roof fell on us," said Ahmad Rahim, 23, a nephew of the woman who died. "We were buried under the rubble and our neighbours came and helped us get out." As he spoke, a shaikh from the religious school arrived and Rahim cried out: "Why didn't you tell us it is dangerous here?"
It's Iraq. Of course it's dangerous. You got gunnies, you snuffies, you got boomers, and you have buildings that fall down around your ears without warning. Other than that, the place isn't bad...
Sheikh Abd al-Wahid replied that bombings are happening all over Iraq. "It is Saddam's people who commit these attacks," he said. US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, said he had received a report indicating there was no explosion. "The Iraqi police service reported to the 1st Armored Division that the building collapsed due to a structural integrity problem," he said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-12-20
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=23063