Dutch journalist killed in Russian bombing of Gori

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008

Dutch journalist killed in Russian bombing of Gori

The Associated PressTBILISI, Georgia A Dutch television journalist was killed overnight whenRussian warplanes bombed the central Georgian city of Gori.The television news station RTL reported on its Web site that itscameraman Stan Storimans, 39, was killed and correspondent JeroenAkkermans was wounded in the leg in the attack. RTL said at least fivepeople died in the Gori bombing.At least two other journalists have been reported killed previously inthe fighting between Georgian and Russian troops, now in its fifth day.Gori was bombed overnight by Russian forces who have occupied the nearbyGeorgian separatist region of South Ossetia and on Monday advanced intoGeorgia proper. Gori was all but deserted late Monday after mostremaining residents and Georgian soldiers fled.Dutch Ambassador Onno Van Elderenbosch said Storimans was working in amedia center that had been set up on the top floor of Gori's three-storytelevision and radio center. It was not clear whether the buildingitself had been hit.However, Georgian officials say Russian forces have been targetingadministrative buildings. The television center is located 200 meters(yards) from Gori's central administrative building.Gori's university and its post office were on fire Tuesday after thebombings, Georgian officials said.Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, who knew Storimans, summoned theRussian ambassador to his office in The Hague on Tuesday for anexplanation of what happened."My thoughts go out to Mr. Storimans' family, especially his wife andtwo children," Verhagen said in a statement, calling him a "hardworkingprofessional and an exceptionally sympathetic man."Storimans had planned to publish a book this year describing his 20years of reporting from hotspots like Sri Lanka, Congo, Indonesia,Afghanistan, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, among others.RTL Nieuws, based in Hilversum, Netherlands, is controlled byLuxembourg-based RTL Group SA, Europe's largest private broadcastingcompany, which in turn is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG.