Red Cross Blogs

World Humanitarian Day recalls bomb blast

By Alix Miller
August 19, 2010 at 5:13 pm

Today is the first official United Nations World Humanitarian Day. It has been commemorated unofficially on the anniversary of the 19 August 2003 bomb blast against the UN headquarters in Baghdad, since soon after it happened. The blast killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN’s chief envoy to Iraq, along with 22 others.

Iraqi sisters Suhad (left) and Soodad (right) Al-Naib were also caught up in the same bomb blast. Suhad describes what happened and how it led to a new life in the UK and volunteering for the British Red Cross.

“We were both working for the UN the day of the bomb blast. I had gone to see Soodad at UN headquarters in Baghdad, where she was working. At 4.30pm she told me I should go home. She looked worried. She said afterwards she knew something was going to happen.

Suddenly I spotted a truck out of the ground floor window of Soodad’s office, moving very fast and in our direction. The next thing I heard was the explosion.

It was so loud. I felt a big silver wave go through me and come out again and a sudden heat surrounding us. Then there was silence. The truck, packed with explosives, had been driven into the building.

I was conscious throughout the bomb blast, yet I felt no pain. I kept saying “I’m alive. I’m alive”, but I knew something terrible had happened. I realised I was stuck. Then someone tapped me but I couldn’t open my eyes and I couldn’t move one of my arms. I felt flesh and blood all over my face. I realised afterwards that one of my eyes was out of its socket.

There was blood everywhere and the force of the explosion had thrown my sister onto my lap – it had been her tapping me to tell me she was OK.

Three hundred people had been injured in the blast and 23 killed. I ended up losing an eye (I have a glass one in its place). Soodad took the brunt of the blast as she was standing by a big window and was scarred all down her left side.

Injured UN staff were transferred to London for treatment in 2004. In total, Soodad has had 13 operations and I have had 11. Our status – until we were granted asylum – meant we couldn’t work, but one day we spotted a Red Cross office near where we were staying.

We remembered the charity as we had gone to the Red Crescent for help to get out of Iraq. However, even though they had not been able to help us on that occasion, they had comforted us.

We both started volunteering for the Red Cross in September 2007, in Palmer’s Green, north London. We were granted asylum after a few months. Now Soodad works part-time at UK Office. I still volunteer and help with fundraising and office administration amongst other things.

We were so lucky to survive the bomb blast and are so grateful to be alive. I prefer to be optimistic and not to look back. So what…I lost an eye. I still have the other one.

We have managed to settle in the UK thanks to volunteering. It’s the least we can do to give something back to thank the community for accepting us.

Image © Harriet Armstrong/BRC

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Tags: International, international tracing and message service, Iraq, volunteer, Volunteering, volunteers

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