BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – An amateur video appears to show Libyans trying to rescue US ambassador Christopher Stevens from a room filled with smoke at the US mission where he was found unconscious after last week’s attack by a mob protesting against a film that denigrates the Prophet Mohammad.
The video, which appeared on the internet and a copy of which was obtained by Reuters in Benghazi, confirms reports that suggested the US envoy died of asphyxiation after the building caught fire.
The footage also sheds new light on the circumstances of the ambassador’s death, apparently showing for the first time that some of the people who forced their way into the US compound later tried to rescue Stevens after they found him lying alone, with no security detail, in one of the rooms in the building.
The video shows a group of young men who had earlier stormed the compound telling other protesters by the light of torches and mobile phones that they had found someone who appeared to be a foreigner lying on the floor.
“There is someone inside … He is a foreigner, he is a foreigner. Take him out,” said one man, shouting for help.
“Bring him out, man! Bring him out,” another said.
“The man is alive. Bring him out, man. Bring him out,” said a third.
“Alive, Alive! God is Greatest,” the crowd cried. Someone called for a car.
“Make space, is there someone who is a medic around? Anyone who can get a car quickly?” another man can be heard saying.
Stevens and three other embassy staff died when gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house in the eastern Libyan city on Tuesday night. The attackers were part of a crowd blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Security personnel were separated from Stevens during the attack, US officials said, in the chaos of smoke and gunfire that ensued.
The identity and motive of the attackers remain unclear.
Activists who took part in the protest said the motive was rage at the video produced in California and which describes the Prophet as a homosexual and womaniser.
Some Libyan officials blamed the attack on radical Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda, such as regional affiliate Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and Ansar al-Sharia. Both groups back the introduction of Islamic Sharia law rather than democracy.
The footage shows Stevens lying on the floor in a smoke-filled room after protesters had stormed the compound and set fire to its buildings.
Minutes later he was pulled out of the room through a window, and then placed on the courtyard’s stone tile floor. A young man is seen putting his hand on his neck to check if he was breathing.
