KUWAIT CITY (CNN) -- A missile struck a shopping mall in Kuwait City early Saturday, the first time the capital has been hit since the Iraq war began, Kuwaiti authorities said.
One worker who was inside the mall suffered minor injuries, authorities said. The mall was closed at the time.
The explosion shook the city center shortly after 1:40 a.m. (5:40 p.m. EST Friday), and smoke billowed across the sky. No warning sirens alerted residents, as is protocol here.
Kuwaiti Information Minister Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah told CNN the missile was a Chinese-made "Silkworm," which Iraq has used in the past.
"This kind of missile usually it flies between 20 to 25 meters over the land. For that, there is no defense system that can reach it," he said. The Silkworm has an optimal range of about 60 miles but can go about 20 miles farther.
Souq Sharq -- Kuwait's premier mall on the seafront with shops, a movie theater and restaurant -- is near Kuwait's parliament, Foreign Ministry and the Sief Palace, the official seat of the emir of Kuwait.
The theater was heavily damaged, and video showed the main portico with glass doors, dry wall and twisted steel beams scattered across the interior. Several holes were in the ceiling.
Glass and other debris landed more than 500 yards away. The missile's tail was found in a nearby canal.
CNN Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who was on the scene, said the missile apparently struck the water, skimmed across the a pedestrian bridge and hit the mall.
"Things have been strewn literally all over the place," Gupta said.
This was the 13th missile launched from Iraq toward Kuwait since the war began, but most have been knocked out of the sky by Patriot missiles.
Two landed in rural desert areas without causing any injuries, and at least one landed in the Persian Gulf.
One worker who was inside the mall suffered minor injuries, authorities said. The mall was closed at the time.
The explosion shook the city center shortly after 1:40 a.m. (5:40 p.m. EST Friday), and smoke billowed across the sky. No warning sirens alerted residents, as is protocol here.
Kuwaiti Information Minister Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah told CNN the missile was a Chinese-made "Silkworm," which Iraq has used in the past.
"This kind of missile usually it flies between 20 to 25 meters over the land. For that, there is no defense system that can reach it," he said. The Silkworm has an optimal range of about 60 miles but can go about 20 miles farther.
Souq Sharq -- Kuwait's premier mall on the seafront with shops, a movie theater and restaurant -- is near Kuwait's parliament, Foreign Ministry and the Sief Palace, the official seat of the emir of Kuwait.
The theater was heavily damaged, and video showed the main portico with glass doors, dry wall and twisted steel beams scattered across the interior. Several holes were in the ceiling.
Glass and other debris landed more than 500 yards away. The missile's tail was found in a nearby canal.
CNN Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who was on the scene, said the missile apparently struck the water, skimmed across the a pedestrian bridge and hit the mall.
"Things have been strewn literally all over the place," Gupta said.
This was the 13th missile launched from Iraq toward Kuwait since the war began, but most have been knocked out of the sky by Patriot missiles.
Two landed in rural desert areas without causing any injuries, and at least one landed in the Persian Gulf.
