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The barrage hit while many Sderot family were having their Sabbath meal (Flash90)
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| By Israel Insider staff February 9, 2008 |
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Four rockets fired from northern Gaza on Saturday evening landed in Sderot and surrounding areas. One landed near a house and injured two brothers who were standing nearby. The brothers -- Osher Tuito, 8, and Rami Tuito, 19 -- were evacuated to Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, the younger one suffering serious injuries to his legs. The rocket damaged the home and several bystanders, including the children's parents, suffered from shock. Angry residents blocked a junction south of Sderot to protest government inaction. The Al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's military wing claimed responsibility for the attack.
Avner Chen, a taxi driver that was passing through the area of the attack, told Ynet that "I heard the Color Red (siren) and I started running quickly from the car and layed down on the road and then I heard the very loud explosion right next to me. "I saw smoke and when I got up, I saw the boy and another youngster stretched on the road, one of them was very seriously wounded and it looked horrendous.
"I tried to stop the flow of blood and then the second one shouted 'help me, save me!' and I went to the second one and started to help him as well. At the same time, I called for Magen David Adom and the fire department on the radio.
"It was a dreadful sight, one of the worst I've seen in my life," Chen said.
The boys had just left their home and were on their way to buy their father after-shave as a present when the rocket hit. It landed a few meters from the boys, completing severing one leg of the younger boy and shattering the other leg and wounding his chest with shrapnel.
Later, he would ask his mother: "Mommy, where are my legs?" There was no report as to how she answered.
Perhaps the Olmert government knows.
Postscript: On Sunday, Doctors at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon amputated part of the left leg of eight-year-old Osher Tuito. The boy's right leg was also seriously hurt. He was anaesthetized and his situation was reportedly stable.
Dr. Emil Chai, the hospital's deputy director-general, told Ynet, "When Osher arrived here, his leg was completely crushed. It was clear that we would probably have to amputate it. He underwent surgery during the night and we are trying to keep the second leg, but it's also in bad condition.
"Apart from that, he has a hole in his chest and his lungs are injured. We still fear an infection and are constantly on the lookout. His brother Rami was also operated on tonight. Both his legs are plastered now and we presume that he will be transferred to the orthopedic ward in the coming hours."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrived in Sderot on Sunday morning and walked around the place where the rocket landed. Barak was greeted by angry residents, who told him to "go home." He went to "security consultations" with Ehud Olmert and others.
It will be some time before Osher Tuito goes home, and he will not be able to walk there. |
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