_a.jpg "צילום: שי וקנין")
Katyusha in the north (Archives)
Photo: Shai Vaaknin
False alarm sounds in north; 2 suffer shock
Residents of Kiryat Shmona, Galilee panhandle panic when air-raid siren sounds on morning of Purim holiday. No explosions heard. Police, military continue to investigate trigger of siren
An air-raid siren sounded in the Kiryat Shmona and Galilee panhandle region Wednesday morning. No explosions were heard, and the IDF said after performing scans of the area that is appeared to be a false alarm, and that they would continue to investigate what set it off.
Two women suffered from shock and were evacuated for medical treatment.
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Yitzhak Benhorin
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At around 10 am a siren was heard in Kiryat Shmona, Metula, the Upper Galilee Regional Council and Mevoot Hermon Regional Council. About a half-an-hour later, residents resumed their daily routine.
Kiryat Shmona Mayor Nissim Malka said, "Since it's the Purim holiday, only daycare centers are open, and an order was given to have the children transferred to protected spaces until it's finally confirmed that this was a false alarm.
"We did not receive any order from the military to open shelters, and I am in constant contact with the northern command," the mayor added. "The municipal war room was opened immediately with the sound of the siren."
The bellowing of the siren caused quite a bit of panic in the northern city. Kobi, a resident of Kiryat Shmona, told Ynet, "Suddenly we heard sirens going, and then we rushed to the shelters. We didn't hear anything other than that. The whole family is here, the kids are already used to it."
Emergency services were activated in the Upper Galilee Regional Council following the sirens, but life quickly went back to normal. Emergency services headquarters received no reports of injuries or sounds of explosions, and the military continued to investigation what triggered the siren.
Some three weeks ago a Katyusha rocket hit a house in the western Galilee. Three people were lightly injured in the incident, while two others suffered from shock and the building was damaged. This was the third rocket attack on Israel from the north in recent months.
During Operation Cast Lead Katyushas were fired on Israel in two separate incidents, and two people suffered from shock, while two others sustained light injuries.
Sharon Roffe – Ofir and Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
