Christopher surveys Saudi bomb site
'A horrible sight'
June 26, 1996
Web posted at: 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT)DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher pledged that Tuesday's devastating truck bomb in a military housing complex near Dhahran would not deter the United States from pursuing its mission in Saudi Arabia. Some 19 American servicemen were killed and 80 people were seriously injured in the explosion.
Christopher, along with Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud, surveyed the destruction wrought by an estimated 5,000 pounds of explosives.
Peering into a 30-foot-deep crater -- the result of the bomb -- Christopher murmured, "A horrible sight." "What an outrage this was," he said.
The complex houses American, Saudi, French and British troops. The explosion sheared off the front of an eight-story building used for living quarters and created a giant crater. Other buildings at the compound were damaged.
Saudi security forces cordoned off the area as bulldozers cleared away debris, searching for other possible victims. No one was believed missing. Not all who died had been identified.
Pentagon officials said more than 200 people were treated at hospitals for injuries, then released.
It was the deadliest bombing involving U.S. citizens in the Middle East since a 1983 Beirut attack at a barracks killed 241 Americans.
Clinton promises punishment
President Clinton summed up the deadly bomb blast as a "cowardly act of terrorism" and vowed that the United States "will not rest" in its fight against international terrorism. "Anyone who attacks one American attacks all Americans," the president said.Although no one had stepped forward to accept blame for the blast, Muslim militants opposed to the Western military presence in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf were suspected.
The bombing came seven months after a car bomb exploded outside a U.S.-run military building in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, killing five Americans and two Indians.
Technical expertise called on
The FBI investigative unit includes explosives and evidence experts. They will assist Saudi Arabian authorities, who are in charge of the investigation.
In a live telephone interview with CNN, Maj. Gen. Kurt Anderson said the U.S. military will play a limited role in the probe, primarily interviewing witnesses at the scene. (235K AIFF or WAV sound)
Anderson said a U.S. security guard saw two men in a fuel tanker truck park the vehicle along the compound's northeast fence. They then jumped in a car and drove away. The security guard sounded an alarm, but about 4 minutes later, the truck exploded, Anderson said. (245K AIFF or WAV sound)
An attempt was made to evacuate two nearby apartment buildings, but the blast went off before people could get out. The explosion took place at 10:30 p.m. (1930 GMT, 5:30 p.m. EDT).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
For information:
Related stories:
- Partial list of Americans killed in the blast - June 26, 1996
- Massive bomb rocks U.S. military complex - June 25
- President Clinton's remarks - June 25, 1996
- November attack in Saudi Arabia - November 13, 1995
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