Saudi Arabia: Riyadh eyewitness: 'Massive explosion'

BBC News ^ | Tuesday, 13 May, 2003, 00:33 GMT 01:33 UK | Staff and news service reports

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Riyadh eyewitness: 'Massive explosion'

Smoke from the blasts rose into the night sky

John, a Scottish man working in Riyadh, told the BBC World Service programme The World Today, what he saw when explosions went off in Riyadh on Monday night.

About 2330, I was just thinking about going to bed, and I heard this sound like firecrackers. And then immediately I thought that's not firecrackers, that sounds more like some kind of gunfire.

So I got up to investigate and I was going to go to my bedroom window. And just about 10 seconds after the gunfire started, there was this massive blast.

I saw nothing, because all my curtains were closed - luckily, because that shielded the flying glass.

When the bomb blast went off, all the internal doors were blown off their hinges, all the windows were blown in, and I was blown on to my back.

It was a massive explosion.

Hiding in toilet

I'm in a friend's apartment now, all of my colleagues are all in the one villa now.

We're about 250 yards from the bomb blast itself, and even here most of the windows and the front doors have been blown in by the blast.

After the blast, there was further shooting. What I did was I went to get two of my colleagues, we went back into my apartment and the only place where there was a door left was my spare toilet.

We locked ourselves in the toilet, because there was a lot of gunfire still going off at that time, and we thought the compound perhaps was being invaded by gunmen.

So we locked ourselves in, and I telephoned my wife and said we're being bombed to hell.

Houses destroyed

At the moment all the emergency services are here - the fire service, police, there's a helicopter flying overhead with a light shining down - everything you would expect in a major incident.

I cannot confirm if there are deaths or not.

But what I would say is if there were any residents in the nearest five or six houses to the blast itself - and the bomb blast was immediately outside three or four residences - I don't believe people could have survived.

There is nothing left - only the concrete superstructure.

All the brickblock walling has completely disappeared, there is no sign of furniture, nothing.

[Zipporah]

Have they determine the cause?? OR who is taking responsibility?

[GirlShortstop]

So we locked ourselves in, and I telephoned my wife and said we're being bombed to hell.

Sounds like a helluva way to spend a night.

Bump for first hand account reference.

[Cicero]

This may be prove to be an isolated incident. But my bet is that the days of the Saudi Royal Family are numbered. They sowed the wind, and now they will reap the whirlwind.

[Diddle E. Squat]

So that's what it looked like. I had Fox News on and their banner covered most of the relevant image.

[hole_n_one]

[TexanToTheCore]

Who's your Daddy now, Mr. Hotshot Saudi Prince?

[Prodigal Son]

Hmmm. Al Qaeda might be looking for some PR spin here. They know that America has already announced its intentions of withdrawing most of the troops we have in Saudi Arabia. They can spin this in the Arab media as them having "driven the infidel out" (knowing that we're leaving anyway).

It won't be true of course but that won't stop your average fanatical jihadist from seeing it that way.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for a better picture!

Someone said Al Jeezra had pictures also!

[McGavin999]

OBL said he'd go after the Royal Family, and that's exactly what they're doing. He used the excuse that it was because the US was on their sacred soil, but the real reason is he wants to take over SA to found his caliphate. Now that the US is leaving, that's exactly what he's doing.

I don't like to see innocent people being bombed, I don't care what country they come from. Terrorist are terrorists and they need to be stamped out. Maybe now the authorities can do something about the mad mullahs now that the US has pulled out and the terrorists are attacking SA.

This attack has probably come about because the prince was finally making changes that the fanatics didn't like.

[TaMoDee]

Are any of the USA Corp of Engineer Compounds involved?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Are any of the USA Corp of Engineer Compounds involved?

We have US Corp of Engineers there?

[telebob]

If this is an Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda franchise bombing, it will only go to prove that AQ has been decimated to the point of becoming geopolitically irrelevant. If they've been reduced to small scale operations in their own backyard, then so much for the recent ballyhoo about 'Super Duper AQ - with the secret hierarchy impenetrable by the CIA'.

The Saudis have been having a running gunbattle for about six months with this lot. It looks like things may be coming to a head but this operation only shows the weakness of AQ. If they had any real strength, they would have taken on a more politically significant target like a member of the royal family or a large scale attack on their holdings.

[enuu]

Aside from the terrible part of innocent people being killed, of course that's horrible no matter where the terror attack occurs, but otherwise, the best thing that can happen for the war on terrorism is for these Arab governments to start getting hit. When it strikes home, maybe they will be a little more cooperative with stopping their sponsorship (even if that only amounts to passively looking the other way) of Jihadists, Madrassas, terrorism mosques, etc.

[Diddle E. Squat]

You just have to live in a newsroom with the wall of feeds...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OK, what you say is very interesting!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[enuu]

CNN is saying yes, compounds involved, 40 Americans injured. Seems American site was the target. Interview on now with U.S. Ambassador to SA. (10:23 pm)

[TaMoDee]

YES! The USA Corps of Engineers has acted as the contracting agency for $BILLIONS of facilities throughout
Saudi. They are Public Works and Military Facilities.

The Saudi's pay us BIG BUCKS to get the job done correctly and on time!!