On Thu, 20 May 1999, Doug Henwood wrote:
> Telegraph (London) - 21 May 1999
>
>
> Bomb hits hospital and envoys' homes
> By Toby Helm in Brussels and Lara Santoro in Belgrade
>
> NATO refused to confirm yesterday that one of its bombs had hit a hospital
> in Belgrade killing three people as well as damaging the nearby Swedish,
> Spanish and Norwegian ambassadors' residencies.
>
> But the alliance, which did admit that one of its bombs went 1,500 ft off
> course over the city early yesterday, was criticised by neutral Sweden. As
> hospital beds were seen hanging out of windows and the Yugoslav media
> claimed that two women in labour had been injured, the Swedish Prime
> Minister, Goran Persson, launched an official protest at the latest
> blunder. He said: "We don't accept that our embassy is subject to this kind
> of violation and we have protested against this. We have asked for an
> explanation."
>
> The action was particularly serious, said Mr Persson, because the location
> of Swedish sites were well known. Earlier this month, Nato accidentally
> bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and wounding
> at least 20. The error sparked anti-Nato riots in China. Sweden is
> currently acting as representative in Belgrade for the Nato members
> Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway.
>
> Annika Soder, a spokesman for the Swedish Foreign Ministry, said the blast
> had caused structural damage to the home of its ambassador, Mats
> Staffansson, with nine windows shattered. No one in the building was hurt.
> She said: "The US embassy phoned us today to apologise, saying they would
> investigate what had happened." Mr Staffansson said he heard two large
> explosions within 200 yards of his house and went out to inspect the damage.
>
> Norway said windows were smashed at its ambassador's residence nearby and
> Spain, which is a Nato member, also announced damage to its
> representative's home. Its Foreign Ministry said: "The Spanish government
> considers it to be of the utmost importance to ensure that military
> activities are carried out with the greatest caution in order to avoid
> victims in the civilian population and damage to buildings that are not
> considered strategic targets."
>
> Reporters who visited the remains of the Dr Dragisa Misovic hospital in
> Belgrade's wealthy Dedinje area said the neurological ward had been worst
> hit and the gynaecological and maternity sections nearby were also damaged.
> The Yugoslav claims of three dead and the two injured mothers could not be
> confirmed but Leposava Milicevic, the Serbian Health Minister, told a news
> conference that the body of a hospital guard was one of the dead and she
> predicted more bodies would be dug out of the debris.
>
> She said: "Patients in comas or the paralysed and babies - they seem to be
> Nato's ideal targets. They can not hide, can not run, can not complain.
> They can only die silently." The area around the crater was strewn with
> spent ammunition apparently from a rifle. It was not clear whether the
> spent bullets had been fired at Nato jets on Wednesday night or whether
> they had been there before the bombing raid.
>
> Jamie Shea, Nato's spokesman, said the alliance had been aiming at an army
> barracks at about 1am yesterday when a laser-guided bomb went astray. He
> said: "Seven laser-guided bombs hit the target. One laser-guided bomb
> failed to guide correctly and we can confirm that it struck the base of a
> building about 1,500 ft from the centre of the target area."
>
> Yugoslav army sources said the barracks had been evacuated on the first day
> of air strikes. Mr Shea had no details about any buildings struck
> accidentally but described Serb claims that the attack was deliberate as
> "completely false". Gen Walter Jertz, Nato's military spokesman, said it
> took time for the alliance to verify what had happened to bombs that went
> off course. It always suspects the Serbs of manufacturing propaganda to
> swell public feeling against Nato at home and fuel doubts about the bombing
> abroad.
>