Rockets hit Beersheba as youths head to school
Two Grads fired at southern city at around 7:20 am; one lands in open area, seven people suffer shock. Some 2,700 11th and 12th graders expected to return to school Sunday, study in bomb shelters
Two rockets landed in the southern city of Beersheba at around 7:20 am Sunday, only a few second after an air raid siren sounded in the city. One of the rockets hit an open area inside the city.
There were no injuries, but Magen David Adom emergency services treated seven people for shock. A car and a building sustained damage. An electric pole collapsed and the power supply to the area was cut. Another rocket caused damage in a different part of the city.
The rockets were fired just half an hour before the city's high schools were to reopen after being closed for more than 10 days. Some 65% of Beersheba's 11 and 12th graders (about 2.700 students) were to return to school Sunday and study in bomb shelters.
Ronit, who lives in the area hit by the rocket, said the entire neighborhood trembled. "There was one big boom. There's no electricity on the street now. The shutters moved after the pole fell on a car. There's a great commotion here: Police, ambulances and firefighters.
"The children here were nearly killed. My daughter is shaking. She has been clinging to me for two weeks now. She was supposed to go to school today, but I didn't send her and I won't send her until the commotion ends."
Residents at rocket landing site (Photo: Ido Erez)
The rockets landed in the area after a quiet night without air raid sirens. Saturday was a relatively quiet day in terms of the launching of rockets.
Several rockets landed in the city of Ashkelon in the afternoon hours, one of them hitting a building. One person was lightly to moderately injured and three others sustained light wounds. Twenty-seven people suffered shock.
Smaller barrages were fired Saturday at the Sha'ar Hanegev and Eshkol regional councils. Several rockets landed in open areas in Ashdod, without causing injuries or damage.
The school day in Beersheba was expected to open with a review of the Home Front Command instructions on how students should act. An officer and two Home Front Command soldiers were to be stationed at every school. The pupils were then to exercise entering the bomb shelters.
Yael Branovsky contributed to this report
