Halliburton/KBR contractors sue over deaths in Iraq

A burning fuel convoy

(CBS) Heading to Baghdad airport, a fuel convoy turned into an inferno, and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilians in the Iraq war. Seven died and 26 were injured, CBS News Chief Investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.

"It could have been prevented. And it never, never should have happened to begin with," says Ray Stannard.

Stannard was one of the drivers. As the truck burned, he held a friend who died in his arms.

"What they did was murder," he says, "and I stick by that."

But his anger is not directed at the insurgents. Instead, it's directed at his employer, Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton.

"They sent these men down the road, under attack with mortars, land mines, machine guns, rifles, grenade and explosives. Knowing the army was in combat. Knowing that people were being wounded. Knowing that trucks were destroyed. And they chose to do it anyway," says Scott Allen, who represents former KBR employees now suing the company for wrongful death.

Read the rest at CBS News

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