The attackThe Benghazi assault consisted of two separate attacks, one on the consulate that began at 9:40 pm local time and a second one at about 4 am on a
CIA facility (an "annex") about 1.2 miles away.[SUP]
[22][/SUP]
Ambassador Stevens, who was visiting Benghazi at the time, retired to his room at about 9 pm and about 40 minutes later gunfire and explosions were heard near the front gate. A
Predator drone that was already performing Libyan surveillance missions was moved into position over the compound,[SUP]
[23][/SUP] which was protected by five diplomatic security agents and four Libyans who were members of a militia assisting the Libyan government.[SUP]
[22][/SUP] Large numbers of armed men shouting "
Allah Akbar" stormed the compound from multiple directions[SUP]
[24][/SUP][SUP]
[25][/SUP] and entered the building occupied by the ambassador, but did not see him as he had retreated with a security agent, 31 year old David Ubben, to a "safe haven" behind a locked metal grill. Before leaving, however, the attackers poured diesel fuel in and around the building and set it on fire. The security agent, who later said he was unable to see more than three feet through the smoke, led the ambassador and information officer Sean Smith to an exterior window. Ubben exited through the window expecting the other two to follow but they did not.[SUP]
[22][/SUP]
A quick reaction force from the
CIA annex arrived and attempted to secure the perimeter and locate the ambassador but were unable to find Stevens in the smoke-filled building. The team then decided to return to the annex with the survivors and Smith's body, which they did find. While en route back to the annex, the group's armored vehicle was hit by
AK-47 rifle fire and hand grenades. The vehicle was able to make it to its destination with two flat tires, however.[SUP]
[22][/SUP]
At the annex, agents took up firing positions on the roof as the building came under
small arms fire. 8 reinforcements from Tripoli had arrived when the facility was hit by
mortars at about 4 am.[SUP]
[22][/SUP][SUP]
[23][/SUP] Ex-
SEALS Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed by a mortar shell while operating their machine gun[SUP]
[23][/SUP] while Ubben suffered
shrapnel injuries and several broken bones. According to Ubben's father, "The first [mortar] dropped 50 yards short and the next two were right on target."[SUP]
[26][/SUP]
At about 1 am the body of Ambassador Stevens was found by local citizens and taken to the Benghazi Medical Center. At the hospital Stevens was administered
CPR for 90 minutes by Dr. Ziad Abu Zeid.[SUP]
[27][/SUP] According to Abu Zeid, Stevens died from asphyxiation caused by smoke inhalation. A 22-year-old freelance videographer, Fahd al-Bakoush, later published a video[SUP]
[28][/SUP] showing Libyans trying to extract the unconscious ambassador from a smoke-filled room.[SUP]
[29][/SUP][SUP]
[30][/SUP]
Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, the spokesman for Libya's Supreme Security Committee, said roads leading to the Benghazi consulate compound were sealed off and Libyan state security forces had surrounded it.[SUP]
[31][/SUP]
The bodies were taken to
Benina International Airport and flown to the capital,
Tripoli, and scheduled to fly to a U.S. airbase in Germany. From Germany, the four bodies arrived at
Andrews Air Force Base near
Washington, DC, where President
Barack Obama and members of his cabinet held a ceremony in honor of those killed.
A U.S. Army commando unit was sent to
Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, Italy the night of the attack but did not deploy to Benghazi.[SUP]
[32][/SUP]
After the attack, all diplomatic staff were moved to the capital,
Tripoli, with nonessential personnel to be flown out of Libya. Sensitive documents remained missing, including documents listing the names of Libyans working with the Americans, and documents relating to oil contracts.[SUP]
[33][/SUP]
[h=4][
edit] Recovery of Ambassador Stevens[/h]A 22-year-old freelance videographer, Fahd al-Bakoush, later published a video[SUP]
[28][/SUP] showing Libyans trying to rescue U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens from a room filled with smoke at the attacked diplomatic mission[SUP]
[29][/SUP][SUP]
[30][/SUP] where he was found unconscious, which confirms reports that suggested the U.S. envoy died of asphyxiation after the building caught fire.[SUP]
[34][/SUP] Some of the Libyans who entered the compound tried to rescue Stevens after they found him lying alone on the floor in a dark smoke-filled room with a locked door accessible only by a window. According to U.S. officials, security personnel were separated from Stevens during the attack in the chaos of smoke and gunfire that ensued. A group of men pulled him out of the room through the window, and then placed on the courtyard's stone tile floor. The crowd cheered "God is Greatest" when Stevens was found to be alive. He was then rushed to the hospital in a private car as there were no ambulance to carry him.[SUP]
[35][/SUP] According to U.S. officials, amid the evacuation, Stevens and foreign service officer Sean Smith were inside the consulate with a regional security officer. They got separated in the smoke. The security officer and others went back in to try to find the two of them and found Smith dead. They pulled him out but flames and gunfire forced them to flee before they could find Stevens.
Seif Eddin Zoghbia was the general surgeon on duty at the Benghazi Medical Center when the ambassador was rushed in by strangers five hours later at around 1 a.m.[SUP]
[36][/SUP] For the next half hour, doctors and nurses tried to revive the body to no avail, said Zoghbia, adding that the ambassador died of asphyxiation and that there were no signs of trauma on his body. Dr. Ziad Abu Zeid later told The Associated Press that Stevens was nearly lifeless when he was brought by Libyans, Stevens had severe asphyxia from the smoke and that he tried for 90 minutes to resuscitate him with no success. Only later did security officials confirm he was an American and an ambassador. Stevens' body was later returned to U.S. custody.
