ABC News Anchor Woodruff and Cameraman Seriously Injured in Iraq

Hit by Roadside Bomb

ABC News coanchor Bob Woodruff (above) and cameraman Doug Vogt (below) are reportedly in serious but stable condition, after the vehicle they were riding in was hit by explosives.

Taji, Baghdad, IQ – On Saturday, Robert Woodruff, coanchor of ABC’s World News Tonight, and cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously injured when the vehicle they were traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq.

Both men are in serious but stable condition after having undergone surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Iraq, and will be treated at a medical facility in Germany.

Woodruff, Vogt and an Iraqi soldier suffered shrapnel wounds when their convoy was attacked near the city of Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad. Woodruff and Vogt sustained head injuries and Woodruff also suffered wounds to his upper body. They were flown to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where doctors will monitor their recovery.

“We take this as good news, but the next few days will be critical,” ABC News President David Westin said in a statement.

At the time of the explosion, Woodruff and Vogt—who, along with their four-man team, were in the lead vehicle traveling in a convoy with Iraqi security forces—were standing in the back hatch of their vehicle taping a video segment. The blast was followed by small-arms fire.

They had been traveling in a U.S. armored Humvee, but later transferred into an Iraqi vehicle, which was believed to be a much softer target for attacks. Officials believe the IED was detonated through a hard wire in the ground. The attack on the convoy occurred in the same area where a U.S. Apache helicopter was shot down earlier this month.

Along with Elizabeth Vargas, Woodruff, 44, was named coanchor of World News Tonight last month, replacing the late Peter Jennings, who died of lung cancer last year. The father of four has been on assignment in Iraq, and intended to broadcast from there this week for the State of the Union address.

One of the first Western reporters in Pakistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Woodruff, a veteran reporter prior to becoming an anchor, was part of an ABC News team honored with DuPont and Peabody awards, the two highest honors in broadcast journalism, for their overseas coverage of the aftermath of Sept. 11

The Canadian-born Vogt, a 46-year-old father of three daughters, has been with ABC News for more than 15 years, and has extensive experience in international hot spots. The multiple Emmy winner was sitting next to ABC News producer David Kaplan when the producer was shot and killed in Bosnia. Earlier this month, he was with Woodruff in Iran, and was recently in another convoy in which someone was killed by an IED.