BAGHDAD, Jan. 29 -- A co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight" and an ABC cameraman suffered serious head wounds Sunday in a roadside bomb attack in Taji, north of Baghdad. They were stabilized at a military hospital and were expected to be flown to Germany for further medical care, the network said in a statement.
Bob Woodruff, 44, who took over the anchor duties for the weeknight broadcast earlier this month, and cameraman Doug Vogt were embedded with the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division but were traveling with an Iraqi unit in an Iraqi vehicle when the explosion occurred, ABC News President David Westin said in a statement. An Iraqi soldier was also wounded in the attack, which took place at 12:25 p.m., the U.S. military reported.
ABC News said on its Web site that both Woodruff and Vogt were partially exposed because they were standing in the vehicle's hatch. Woodruff suffered shrapnel wounds and Vogt was struck by shrapnel in the head and suffered a broken shoulder, the network said. They were flown to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone and then to a hospital on a U.S. base in Balad, northwest of the capital, where both underwent lengthy surgeries that stabilized their conditions.
Before the attack, Woodruff and Vogt, part of a four-man ABC team, had switched from an American Humvee to the Iraqi vehicle. The ABC crew was riding in the lead vehicle in a U.S.-Iraqi convoy at the time of the explosion, which was followed by small-arms fire, the network reported. The journalists were wearing body armor, helmets and ballistic glasses.
According to a U.S. military official who was briefed on the incident but spoke on the condition of anonymity, the attack came as they rode in a Soviet-made MT-LB armored personnel carrier, a 12-ton vehicle that can carry about a dozen soldiers. It is described as "lightly armored" on the Web site of the Federation of American Scientists, which catalogues the specifications of military equipment. The armor in its turret is said to be seven to 14 millimeters thick.
"It looks like what got them was standing up in the turret," the military official said, adding that doing so was less safe but not unusual. "Another guy inside didn't have a scratch on him."
Woodruff, who anchors "World News Tonight" with Elizabeth Vargas, is an experienced war correspondent who has reported from the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan and was embedded with a Marine reconnaissance unit during the invasion of Iraq. A Michigan native, he has four children.
Vogt, a Canadian, has 25 years of experience, is a three-time Emmy Award winner and is now based in Europe.
Bob, best wishes. I met him in the early 80's when he was at WFAA in Dallas. A genuinely nice guy.
