News

USIS Washington 
File

07 August 1998

US FLYING IN RELIEF SUPPLIES TO AID VICTIMS OF EMBASSY BOMBINGS

(Investigators head to the blast sites to gather evidence) (350)

By Jane A. Morse

USIA Diplomatic Correspondent



Washington -- A State Department official says US planes loaded with
medical personnel and supplies, communications and security equipment
and search and rescue personnel are flying to Kenya from Andrews Air
Force Base near Washington as well as from Germany to bring aid to the
victims of the August 7 terrorist bombings of the US Embassies in
Nairobi, Kenya and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.


The US government is also flying in blood from depots in South Africa
and Europe, the official told reporters at a midday August 7
background briefing.


The official added that US investigators are enroute to Africa to
gather evidence regarding the explosions. The official said there were
no advance warnings of the bomb attacks, and normal security
precautions were in effect at the time they occurred.


According to Reuters news service, about 80 persons were killed and
approximately 1,200 persons were injured in the two nearly
simultaneous blasts which severely damaged both US Embassies.


The State Department official told the briefing that as of midday
August 7 Washington time a total of 11 persons were known to have died
in the two attacks -- five of them Tanzanian nationals employed by the
US Embassy in Dar-el-Salaam. The other six known fatalities, all US
nationals, occurred at the US Embassy in Nairobi, which was more
heavily damaged than the embassy in Dar-es-Salaam. One of the Nairobi
dead was a dependent of an embassy employee.


Another 15 US personnel were hospitalized in Nairobi, while six others
were missing, according to the official. "It is possible there are
people alive in the ruins," the official said. "For right now, we're
really focused on getting the living people out of the ruins."


The official did not have any information on a report that a bombing
suspect was in custody.


A hotline for relatives only has been set up at the State Department.
The number is: 202-647-0900.