IRAQ: STREAM OF REFUGEES HAVE CROSSED OVER A BRIDGE OUTSIDE BESIEGED CITY OF BASRA HEADED TOWARDS ENCAMPED BRITISH FORCES

Record ID: 275202

  • Title: IRAQ: STREAM OF REFUGEES HAVE CROSSED OVER A BRIDGE OUTSIDE BESIEGED CITY OF BASRA HEADED TOWARDS ENCAMPED BRITISH FORCES
  • Date: 31st March 2003
  • Summary: (EU) 1 KM SOUTH OF BASRA, IRAQ (MARCH 29, 2003)(REUTERS) 1. LV BASRA AREA / HEAVY CLOUD OF SMOKE 0.05 2. SLV PEOPLE LEAVING BASRA, CARRYING THEIR BELONGINGS; CLOSE WOMAN WITH CHILD; WOMEN CARRYING CHILDREN ACROSS BRIDGE AND PASSING THROUGH CHECKPOINT; MV BRITISH TROOPS AT CHECKPOINT; APC's AT CHECKPOINT (7 SHOTS) 0.42 3. SLV BRITISH SOLDIER
  • Embargoed: 15th April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: 1 KILOMETRE SOUTH OF BASRA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ZTM4DE0ZOBQQJKXBKIXZ4YW
  • Story Text: A stream of refugees has crossed over a bridge outside
    the besieged Iraqi city of Basra and headed towards encamped
    British forces.

    For many Iraqis trying to make their way into the
    besieged city of Basra, the final sweep of highway arching
    over the Euphrates river was proving on Saturday (March 29, 2003)
    to be a bridge too far.

    Thousands of people were gathered on both sides of the
    bridge leading to the south of the city, most trying to escape
    to find food and water, but others trying to get in.

    There were scenes of pandemonium as a logjam of vehicles
    formed in front of two British Challenger tanks guarding the
    bridge.

    Ponies drawing carts piled high with vegetables reared and
    spilled their load as their masters tried to whip them through
    the crowd. Drivers gesticulated wildly and swore at each
    other.

    Meanwhile, Basra's oil refinery, intact despite days of
    fighting between British troops and Iraqi paramilitaries,
    could resume operations once electricity is restored and crude
    arrives, Iraqi workers said on Saturday.

    The 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) facility sits about five
    km (three miles) outside Basra, Iraq's second city, which is
    now ringed by British and U.S. tanks, artillery and armoured
    personnel carriers.

    The Basra refinery, targeted by the United States and
    Britain during their 1998 bombing blitz, escaped sabotage last
    week by Iraqi troops, though they allegedly set fire to a
    number of oil wells across the southern region.

    Brooks said three oil wells were still ablaze in the
    Rumaila oilfield in southern Iraq but that he hoped that
    number would be further reduced by firefighting teams in the
    coming days.

    Meanwhile shelling has taken place near Basra but it was
    uncertain which side of the conflict was responsible for the
    flares and ongoing military action.


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