New Delhi: Satish Jacob and his cameraman Syed Nooh Nizami, the only Indian crew
stationed in Baghdad and working for Doordarshan, had a narrow escape when an
American tank fired on the 5th floor of the Palestine Hotel, where they were staying.
Jacob and other journalists immediately rushed out to the hotel lobby after the
firing, in which three journalists were killed.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad rang up the
office of 'Third Eye', enquiring about the fate of Jacob and the cameraman, said a
release from World Report.
Jacob said the situation is very serious in Baghdad.
"There is a complete silence in the city. The planes are flying all over the city.
This has been the most dangerous day for the media in the last 20 days of the war,
one after another three attacks on media."
"Al-Jazeera journalists were killed. The building in which Abu Dhabi journalists
were staying was also bombed and journalists might be still lying under the
debris."
"One journalist immediately died and two or three were badly wounded. All the
journalists panicked. The journalists are wounded and they are very angry and this
has put a big question mark on the safety of journalists," he said.
Jacob, Doordarshan's correspondent and the only Indian journalist in Baghdad, is
safe and told Worldview India, a special programme on Iraq telecast on DD National
channel, that although he was "somewhat shaken" by the attack, he would continue to
stay in the hotel.
He reported to Doordarshan via satellite phone after the attack.
PTI
