Deadly day in South
צילום: אמיר כהן
4 Bedouins killed in blasts
Two youths die after shell dud explodes; earlier, two shepherds killed in similar incident
Four people killed in two remarkably similar incidents. Two Bedouin youths were killed Tuesday afternoon and a third was severely wounded when an unexploded shell detonated as they were tending sheep in an Israeli Air Force training area south of Kiryat Gat.
An initial police investigation revealed that the three youths, aged 13 to 16, were playing with an old bomb shell they found in the army firing range.
Deputy manager of Lachish District Magen David Adom Mushon Vaknin told Ynet that one of the wounded was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, and the other two were rushed to hospital by ambulance. Paramedics found the victims unconsciousness after having suffered severe wounds on all parts of their bodies.
Speaking to Ynet, Mark Amiel, head of the police’s Southern Investigations Department pointed out that the deadly incident Tuesday afternoon was remarkably similar to another incident earlier in the day near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. “Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incidents,” Amiel said.
Earlier Tuesday a father and his 16-year-old son, Bedouin shepherds, were killed when an unexploded shell detonated in an open field where the two were pasturing their sheep. The victims were Salam Jadeen and his son Khaled. Although they originally suspected a Qassam attack, IDF sappers and police scoured the area carefully and concluded that the blast was caused by an unexploded mortar shell.
Two additional casualties who suffered from shock were treated at the Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.
Earlier Tuesday three Qassam rockets were fired at Israeli territory from the northern Gaza Strip. No one was wounded and no damage was reported in the attacks.
