Some of the nearly 300 military people from Hill Air Force Base who are stationed in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, were injured when a terrorist bomb exploded there on Tuesday - but so far, none of those stationed in Utah is known to be dead or seriously hurt.
Altogether, 283 Hill Air Force Base personnel were at Dhahran when a fuel truck exploded. As of Wednesday morning, not all had been accounted for."We have confirmation on some folks but not everybody," said Len Barry, spokesman for the air base. All 219 members of the 34th Fighter Squadron were accounted for, he said. The squadron is part of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing.
"Though there were some injuries (among members of the 34th squadron), most were superficial and none of them appear to be life-threatening," he said.
It was possible to account for the members of the squadron because they were stationed together. However, he said, other Hill military personnel are at Dhahran in support roles such as medical experts, security police, civil engineers and battle-damage repair crew members.
Military officials have been carefully confirming the status of people at the base, including making sure that an unhurt service member is identified by sight before releasing information. Meanwhile, at Hill, a crisis line was set up Tuesday night so that family members can get the latest updates, said Tech. Sgt. Barbara Fisher. The number is 777-4681.
"We didn't know anything firm" about many of the others at Dhahran who were not in the 34th squadron. But no reports had arrived so far that anyone from Hill was killed or seriously injured.
A Pentagon spokesman in Virginia told the Deseret News that of seven killed whose names were available Wednesday morning, none was from Utah.