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