Rockets fired at hotel housing Americans U.S. Army soldiers remove devices out of a trailer parked near a park not far from Baghdad's Al Rasheed Hotel early Sunday, Oct 26, 2003, after six rockets where reportedly fired from this vehicle into the hotel earlier. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) By CHARLES J. HANLEY AP Special Correspondent BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - At least six rockets struck the Al Rasheed Hotel early Sunday, the military said, blasting holes in the front wall and causing unspecified casualties in a building that is home to many Americans and seen as a symbol of the U.S.-led occupation. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who appeared shaken as he spoke to reporters after the 6:10 a.m. attack, said he had unconfirmed reports that one American might have been killed. The U.S. military command said six to eight rockets hit the hotel and there were an "unknown number of casualties." Wolfowitz, who was believed to have been in the hotel when the blast occurred, expressed "profound sympathy" for the victims of the attack, which blew out windows in several of the middle floors. Wolfowitz said that danger persists Iraq "as long as there are criminals out there staging hit and run attacks." The attack occurred one day after a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed near the northern city of Tikrit. Maj. Jossyln Aberle, spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, confirmed that the helicopter received ground fire from a rocket-propelled grenade "while it was still in the air," but the pilot maintained control and crash-landed. One crewmember was injured, she said. At the Al Rasheed, the impacts left at least eight holes, the largest about two feet by three feet across, and shattered windows in at least two dozen rooms on the west side of the hotel. The most severe damage appeared to be on the fifth and eighth floors of the 18-story hotel. Window drapes could be seen dangling on the face of the hotel. U.S. troops sealed off the area, located in a heavily guarded district near coalition headquarters, after the attack. The rockets were fired two hours after coalition authorities ended the nighttime curfew in the Iraqi capital in preparation for the Muslim holy month Ramadan, which begins here Monday. They apparently were fired from a trailer parked near a park not far from the hotel. Iraqi policeman Jabbar Tarek said he and a colleague approached the driver of the car pulling the trailer to ask him to move, but the man fled. Tarek, who was injured in the arm and hospitalized, said the trailer held a missile launcher and six to eight missiles. "We weren't armed. Had we been armed, we would have arrested him, or tried to stop him from fleeing," he said. "We had a training course, but we weren't given any weapons, badges or certificates. I would have fired on him if I had a weapon." Another Iraqi policeman said the rockets fired, presumably by a timer, as security guards approached. U.S. soldiers removed at least two 3-foot-long rockets from the trailer, which was about 500 yards southwest of the hotel. "There is no guarantee we can protect against this kind of thing unless we have soldiers on every block," Lt. Brian Dowd of Nanuet, New York. The street on which the trailer was parked crosses the Tigris River at the 14th of July Bridge, which U.S. authorities reopened Saturday for the first time since the city fell to American troops in April. Coalition officials cited improved security for the decision to reopen the traffic artery and lift the curfew, which also had been in effect since April. Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein, arrived in Iraq on Friday for a three-day visit. He said the U.S.-led coalition was achieving success in stabilizing Iraq despite actions of "criminals who are trying to destabilize this country." Wolfowitz described them as "a few who refuse to accept the reality" of the new Iraq and he promised the United States would continue in its mission. "We are taking this fight to the enemy," he said. "We are getting the job done." The luxurious Al Rasheed is located in an area tightly controlled by the U.S. military on the western side of the Tigris River near the coalition headquarters and the Convention Center that houses U.S. information and other offices. The blast sent American soldiers and officials fleeing the building in pajamas and shorts, witnesses said. Iraqi security guard Dafer Jawad, 28, said he saw projectiles flying toward the hotel. "There was a whooshing sound," he said. "One landed in the front of the hotel. I saw very heavy white smoke in front of the hotel.... Many people started rushing across from the hotel into the Convention Center. They were wearing pajamas and shorts." Sgt. Pedro Perez, 28, of Orlando, Fla., said the some of the projectiles landed near the front entrance. The hotel also was attacked Sept. 27 with small rockets or rocket-propelled grenades, causing only minimal damage. U.S. officials had warned that "Islamic extremists" planned to carry out a suicide bombing attack against an unspecified hotel in the city's Karrada district used by Westerners. But the warning did not specify a target, and the Al Rasheed is not in that district. A car bomb on Oct. 12 against the Baghdad Hotel, also used by U.S. officials, killed eight people, including the bomber, but security measures prevented the vehicle from reaching the building before it exploded. The Black Hawk helicopter came down at about 4 p.m. Saturday, hours after Wolfowitz left Tikrit, where he visited a U.S. garrison and told commanders he was hopeful American troops would get more money to train Iraqis to assume a greater role in security. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Saturday the helicopter landed for undetermined reasons while supporting a combat mission. However, Aberle, the 4th ID spokeswoman, confirmed Sunday the aircraft had taken ground fire in the air but she did not specify what kind. U.S. officials have been warning that thousands of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles remain unaccounted for after the fall of Saddam's regime and pose a threat to U.S. military aircraft. Only one U.S. helicopter has been confirmed shot down by hostile fire since President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1. A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter was shot down June 12 by hostile fire in western Iraq. The craft's two crewmembers were rescued unhurt. ___________ U.S. says one American killed, 15 people injured in hotel attack BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - One U.S. soldier was killed and 15 other people were wounded in the rocket attack Sunday at the Al Rasheed Hotel, the U.S. military said. The wounded included seven American civilians, four U.S. military personnel and four "non-U.S. coalition civilian partners," the military said in a statement. No further details were released.