Dr. Bella Ahmed Tayeb Bilal, director of the university press, in his statement to the local media said that the bombing reduced the university press building to rubble and destroyed several printing machines, including Heidelberg machines. No loss of life was reported and all employees were able to escape including engineers, technicians and workers who were printing university books and exam material at the time of bombing.
The director said that though there was heavy damage, printing press workers were able to fix the machines and restart work. “Thanks to our experts and engineers, we were able to restart the machines that were not damaged and resume printing our curricula and exam sheets, as well as for other universities to which we offer our print service.”
He estimated that the printing machines destroyed in the attack to be worth millions of dollars and expressed his relief that no life was hurt in the ordeal. “There were 28 people including engineers, technicians and workers, who were working at the press. They said that they felt a violent tremor that shook the building causing the roof to collapse and making many machines non-functional.”
