Video Captures Impact of Woodruff Attack
Feb. 3, 2006 — -- ABC News has now seen the videotapes made by "World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt that captured the moments before the insurgent attack on their patrol. The tapes show their reporting on the efforts of the Iraqi forces to secure their country.
Shortly before the attack, Woodruff and Vogt were riding in an Iraqi armored vehicle with two video cameras -- one in Vogt's hands, the other attached to the front of the vehicle. They were riding through the Al Mushada neighborhood, north of Baghdad.
Woodruff stood in one of the rear hatches, with his legs inside the vehicle. Vogt sat on the ledge of a hatch.
Both wore protective gear -- helmets and body armor.
Shortly before the attack, Woodruff shot a stand-up, in which a reporter talks to the camera.
"We're on patrol with the Iraqi 9th Division," Woodruff said to the camera. "There's only one mechanized division in the entire Iraqi Army. They say the insurgents are particularly afraid of this group, and they patrol up and down the main corridor north of Baghdad."
Woodruff and Vogt were reporting on Iraqi troops that day because they wanted to gauge their readiness and battle worthiness -- a key factor that will dictate how soon U.S. troops will be allowed to come home.
Earlier that same day, Woodruff interviewed an Iraqi colonel in charge of guarding a water-treatment plant that U.S. forces had previously protected.
Hours later, they took off on the fateful patrol. In the seconds just before the blast, Vogt was shooting pictures of an Iraqi soldier.
The last thing seen on the first tape is the camera panning down and the picture turning black. On the other camera, the last image is of tape glitches, and then black.
It is likely the force of the blast disabled both cameras.
Nothing else can be seen or heard on either tape.
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