State Department lowers toll in Green Zone attacks in Baghdad

WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (AFP) - The US State Department lowered the death toll in bomb attacks Thursday in the Green Zone surrounding the US embassy in Baghdad, saying only five were killed, including three Americans, not the 10 originally given in a briefing.
"After the briefing we received corrected figures on the number of deaths," said State department spokesman Richard Boucher.
"The total number of confirmed deaths in both attacks is five -- four in Vendor's Alley and one at the Green Zone Cafe," he said. "Of these five confirmed deaths, three were American citizens, contractors killed at Vendor's Alley.
"In addition to these five confirmed deaths, another American citizen contractor who was at Vendor's Alley at the time of the explosion is missing and presumed dead," said the spokesman.
He said the dead Americans were security staff with a private company on contract to protect the US embassy.
The embassy staff, he said, had been ordered to remain within the heavily fortified facility until further notice.