New York, May 30, 2006—CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who was critically wounded in Iraq by a bomb that killed her two colleagues, was flown today to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Dozier, 39 is being treated for injuries to her head and lower body, CBS reported.
Col. Brian Gamble of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center said Dozier “was responsive, opening her eyes to commands,” and was moving her toes on the flight to Landstuhl. “She is doing as well as can be expected,” he said.
CBS said doctors in Iraq removed shrapnel from Dozier’s head, but the more serious injuries were to her lower body. She will remain in Landstuhl for several days and undergo further operations, CBS and The Associated Press reported.
Dozier and her crew were on patrol with Iraqi and U.S. soldiers in the Karada section of Baghdad on Monday when a car bomb exploded. Cameraman Paul Douglas, 48, and soundman James Brolan, 42, both Britons, died at the scene. An Iraqi interpreter and a U.S. soldier were also killed, and six soldiers were injured, according to news reports.
The CBS crew was embedded with the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division. All three journalists were working outside their humvee, and were believed to have been wearing protective gear. The bodies of Douglas and Brolan are being flown to Kuwait, where they will be met by their families, according to CBS News.
“We wish our colleague Kimberly Dozier a speedy recovery and send our condolences to the families of Paul Douglas and James Brolan,” CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. “These attacks highlight the grave risk journalists continue to face while covering Iraq.”
The risk is borne out by CPJ statistics:
• At least 71 journalists and 26 media support staff have been killed for their work in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
• Six journalists embedded with military forces have been killed.
• Forty-one journalists have been kidnapped since April 2004 when insurgents began targeting foreigners for abduction. Of those abducted most were released and seven were killed.
• Two Iraqi journalists, Marwan Ghazal and Reem Zaeed, were abducted February 1, 2006 and their fate is unknown.