
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 5, 1990                   TAG: 9003051999
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA                                 LENGTH: Short

U.S. SOLDIER HIT IN GRENADE ATTACK DIES IN PANAMA

An American soldier died of injuries suffered in a grenade attack on a discotheque, and six U.S. servicemen remained hospitalized, the U.S. military said Sunday.

A statement from the U.S. Southern Command said Army Spec. Anthony B. Ward, 21, of Houston, died at 5:15 p.m. Saturday of injuries to the chest and abdomen. He died at the U.S. military's Gorgas Hospital in Panama City.

Ward was among 16 American soldiers and 12 Panamanians injured late Friday in the attack on the disco My Place, which was known to be frequented by Americans.

Witnesses said two men yelling "Long live Noriega!" threw a grenade through a glass wall of the disco at about 11:30 p.m., then drove away. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. It was the first such attack on U.S. soldiers in Panama since the Dec. 20 invasion that ousted dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.

by CNB