Ambassador Chris Stevens and other U.S. diplomats died of smoke inhalation after an attack created a fire at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, senior U.S. officials tell CNN:
A grenade attack created a fire in the U.S. consulate building in Benghazi, which created a very complicated and complex situation for those inside, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the details of what happened.
“Folks inside were fighting the fire inside and the attackers outside. It was a cascading casualty, and Amb. Chris Stevens and the others got separated trying to escape to the roof of the building, ultimately succumbing to smoke inhalation,” the U.S. official told CNN’s Jill Dougherty. “There will be more details as we go forward, but there were several valiant attempts to re-enter the burning building to find and save the ones we lost. Valiant but unsuccessful.”
