Reuters photographer killed in Iraq

"random American bombardment"

LONDON (Reuters) - An Iraqi photographer and driver working for Reuters in Iraq were killed in Baghdad on Thursday in what police said was American military action and witnesses described as a helicopter attack.
Photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, were killed in eastern Baghdad, the international news and information company said.
The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports but had no immediate statement.
A preliminary police report obtained by Reuters said Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh had been killed by a "random American bombardment" that killed nine other people.
The report was issued by the al-Rashad police station, the closest station to the scene. Reuters obtained a photocopy of the report. It was based upon witness accounts of the incident and signed by a lieutenant-colonel, the head of the station.
Noor-Eldeen had called a Reuters colleague to say he was taking photographs of a damaged building.
Witnesses interviewed by Reuters in the al-Amin al-Thaniyah neighborhood said Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh, who also worked as a cameraman's assistant, were near the building around the time a U.S. helicopter fired on a minivan.
"The aircraft began striking randomly and people were wounded. A Kia (minivan) arrived to take them away. They hit the Kia and killed ... the two journalists," said one witness, Karim Shindakh.
Shindakh and three other witnesses said U.S. soldiers came and took Noor-Eldeen's camera equipment, which has not been recovered.
A witness has returned Noor-Eldeen's press cards to Reuters. Continued...