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At least 15 killed in suicide bombing in Haifa restaurant
By David Ratner and Haim Shadmi, Ha'aretz, March 31, 2002


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Sunday, March 31, 2002 Nisan 18, 5762
Israel Time: 04:47 (GMT+3)

Last update - 16:35 31/03/2002

At least 15 killed in suicide bombing in Haifa restaurant

By David Ratner and Haim Shadmi, Ha'aretz Correspondents, Ha'aretz Service and Agencies

At least 15 people were killed and over 30 injured, five seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the "Matza" restaurant, at around 2:40 P.M. on Sunday, in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood of Haifa, near the "Grand Kanion" shopping mall.
    Magen David Adom first-aid workers said that there was no definite number of wounded, but added that some 3 people had been evacuated to hospital, one in a critical state, while two others were very seriously injured and two more seriously wounded. The restaurant, which was crowded at the time of the blast, is owned by Israeli Arabs and is located in a gas station complex.
    Police have closed off the area to the public, and a helicopter is carrying out an aerial search of the area in an effort to capture those who transported the bomber to the site of the attack.
    Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, with Hamas official Abdel Aziz Rantisi telling Abu Dhabi television that the attacks would continue until Israel ended its operation in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the IDF has been occupying Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's compound since Friday.
    A short time later, the Islamic Jihad also claimed responsibility for the attack.
    "Watching people on fire is just horrible. I heard an explosion, I went into the gas station and I started to deal with the injured people," a witness, Shimon Sabag, told Israel Radio.
    "I couldn't deal with the critical injuries so I turned to the moderate. I tried to put out the fire, even the moderately injured were on fire," he said.
    The explosion comes less than 24 hours after another suicide bomber blew himself up in a Tel Aviv restaurant Saturday night, wounding over 30 people. On Friday, two Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing in a Jerusalem supermarket.
    "Israel's three main cities were hit in three days. Palestinian suicide bombers have made terror attacks a daily event," David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, said.
    "Israel will fight relentlessly. We will leave no stone unturned until we stop this campaign of terror directed against us," he said.

Emergency numbers:
Haifa Municipality: 106 / 835 6865 (outside city)
Carmel Medical Center: 12 55 142
Rambam Medical Center: 12 55 143 / 144
Bnei Zion Medical Center: 12 55 145

© Copyright 2002 Ha`aretz



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