Witness recounts attack on United Nations Canal Hotel in Baghdad that killed 22 colleagues

A witness recounted being inside the United Nations Canal Hotel in Baghdad when an attack killed 22 colleagues and left the compound in chaos.

"Somehow first you feel the the shake and the light and then the blast, the sound comes," the witness said, describing the moment of impact. They said they blacked out during their exit and, when they regained awareness outside, "there was just a massacre" and a scene of widespread casualties.

An interviewer remarked that it "must have been absolutely shocking" to see such violence and to lose colleagues. The witness replied that, following the attack, they lived in "perpetual and extended shock and denial," describing an ongoing emotional response rather than a clear recovery.

The witness said someone handed them a phone after the blast and told them to "call your parents now," underscoring the immediate personal consequences for those who survived.

Recalling a later trip back to Iraq, the witness said returning four years afterward "provided some emotional healing but certainly not mental health healing," signaling long-term psychological effects.

The excerpt is a first-person account and does not include additional details such as the date of the attack, the witness’s name or institutional affiliation.