Russian bombs kill journalist in Gori
From AP,
A Dutch television journalist was killed overnight when Russian warplanes bombed the central Georgian city of Gori. The television news station RTL reported on its Web site that its cameraman Stan Storimans, 39, was killed and correspondent Jeroen Akkermans was wounded in the leg in the attack. RTL said, in all, five people died in the Gori bombing. link
The killing of Storimans follows on from the deaths of two Georgian reporters in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali earlier this week.
The International News Safety Institute (INSI) highlights the dangers for reporters working in South Ossetia and Gergia,
At least 10 journalists have also been wounded since the fighting began. “This is a shocking casualty list for such a short space of time in a relatively small area,” said INSI Director Rodney Pinder.
“A particularly worrying development is the apparent indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas by artillery and aircraft. Journalists are being caught up in this alongside the suffering civilian population. There can be no excuse for random firing on civilian buildings and vehicles.” link
Reporters Without Borders have more
“Four journalists and a driver have been killed since fighting broke out in South Ossetia, while at least four other journalists have been injured”, Reporters Without Borders said. “This toll is already heavy and we appeal to all the parties involved to tell their forces to respect the work of the press and to ensure they do not target journalists.” link
Photo District News has more on the other journalists reported wounded in the incident that killed Klumchuk and Chikhladze,
They were identified in reports as Teimuraz Kikuradze and Winston Featherly-Bean, an American who was working for an English-language newspaper in Georgia. link