Live News - A Survival Guide - International Federation of Journalists

CHAPTER 3Riots and civil disorder“My car was at a trafficlight when I heard a hugebang and I asked thedriver to go towards thesound. We came to anarrow lane off a mainmarket street. Someonehad thrown a grenadeinto a car in the ditch.There were four othercorrespondents as well asme. We looked at theremains of the grenade.Slowly police started toarrive – the local policeand the army bombsquad. The car door wasunlocked so it wassuspicious, but we thought the danger had passed.The police moved us back about 20 metres from the car.‘Everything stopped aroundme… then the car blew up tenmetres in front of us’Suhasini Haidar,a Delhi-basedfreelance reporterworking forCNN, travelledto Srinagar inKashmir in August2000. She arrivedone day after a fragile ceasefire had fallen apart.“I went with other journalists to try to get a quote from the police. Everything stopped aroundme. I tried to say ‘hey’ and the car blew up ten metres in front of us. The cop pushed medown and said ‘stay down’ — there was silence and then a volley of glass and incredibleheat. Gas cylinders had exploded in the boot of the car. I saw the guy to my right go down.There were 19 people killed and you could see the blood. Most of it is cloudy in my mind.The next thing was we heard bullets go off and the cops started to fire all over the place. Meand the stringer got up and I realised that I was hit. I could not use my arm to get up. I had afew cuts in my head. I called my cameraman and told him I was going to get treatment. Iwent to the army base where I was treated. I had a severely dislocated arm — it came rightout of its socket. I was in ITU and it was very scary. It was some time before the rest of thecasualties arrived. Their injuries were very bad.“You need to do your homework. Double bombs are quite common – the first one draws thepolice and a crowd; then the second one goes off. I should have moved back from the car. IfI had not been moved back I would have definitely have died. I am more jumpy now, and Iam a little more anxious around parked cars. I go to places of danger if it is an assignment,but not because I like to go to dangerous places. Bombs are things you cannot predict.” ■50