NewsLab

Filios Stangos, Greek ERT’s journalist in Georgia, was the eye-witness of a Russian attack in the centre of Gory. This is his testimony. «We were in the centre of Gori, in the central square, near the town hall. The city was completely empty when Russian aircrafts started to hit us with cluster bombs. The bombing lasted for about 30 seconds. When we could look around us, five people were on the ground, I believe two of them must be dead. ERT’s driver, who is Georgian, was wounded as well as a cameraman of Dutch television. What we saw was a bombardment in the centre of Gori, which is situated 40 kilometres from South Osetia, into the territory of Georgia. There were wounded people, only 4 metres from us. Our car has been completely destroyed. Now we are in the Tbilisi hospital, where we have taken our driver. He has wounds on his shoulder and his back, but we fear of an internal bleeding. Gori has been abandoned by the majority of its residents. This bombardment is not justified in any case. During our journey to Gori, we did not see any military force. It was a blind attack in the centre of a city where there still are residents. ? few minutes later, Dutch broadcaster RTL confirmed that its cameraman was killed in the Georgian town of Gori. ERT’s Georgian driver is in critical condition in Tbilisi hospital.